


Camp Lily

by LuketheL



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Adventure, Camping, Gen, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28659627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuketheL/pseuds/LuketheL
Summary: Lily decides to host a camping trip and invites ten of her closest friends to join her. Little do they know that the forest is actually cursed, which makes for an unforgettable adventure.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 8





	1. Introducing the Campers

“The camping trip is a go! We are about to embark on the greatest Vocaloid adventure ever!”

It all started with a tweet. Lily’s decision to host a massive camping trip was made on the fly without much regard for consequences. The Twitter post read “I’m going on a camping trip. Who wants to come with me?” and it received ten responses. That meant there would be eleven campers. Lily’s lucky number, so this must have been a premonition for good things to come. Right? 

The weather was bright and sunny, and if things went well, the entire five-day trip would go off without a hitch. No bad weather in sight. The perfect week for a bunch of friends to get together and enjoy the great outdoors. Not bad for plans made completely on the fly. 

The eleven campers left their van back in the outskirts of Synthania, opting to walk the rest of the way. A simple sign sticking out of the ground read “Execrated Forest,” with a tiny arrow pointing forward. “I wonder why it’s called that,” Lily asked herself as she led the team onward. 

Lily was an ambitious leader. Her bright blonde hair and uniquely indescribable outfit were part of her signature appearance, and her fans would always recognize her white and yellow color scheme. While she wasn’t the most popular singer in her troupe, the Internet household, she often sought adventure and did not back down whenever an opportunity presented itself. In cases like this, she created the opportunity. To her, that’s what living in the world of Vocaloid was all about. 

The blonde leader guided the pack while ten others hiked behind her. The first to accept Lily’s offer was the great and powerful fairy of darkness, Merli. Normally, she stood at the height of a mouse, but she cast a spell to make herself the same size as everyone else (she would have made herself taller had she been more experienced in that level of magic). Kaai Yuki was also quick to join, despite only being nine years old. She knew Lily and Merli would not likely survive on their own, and offered her survival skills that she picked up from her wise teacher. 

Others who accepted Lily’s invitation were Kagamine Rin, Meiko, Xin Hua, and Yanhe. Rin and Meiko were members of the biggest house in all of Vocaloid, but Meiko insisted they needed to get out of the house and spend more time in the great outdoors. Rin only agreed to come along to get away from her irksome twin. Xin Hua and Yanhe thought it would be fun after seeing them join. 

Gumi, Lily’s best friend and partner in crime, offered to join both in real life and on Twitter, just to make sure Lily didn’t forget. Lily extended the invitation to her other friends CUL and Otomachi Una, but CUL was too busy with her hit radio show and never received the invitation. Una, on the other hand, preferred to stay at home with her precious technology. 

“It’ll be fine,” Gumi assured Lily. “If we get into trouble, Una can come and save us!” 

Among the last people to accept Lily’s offer were Sukone Tei and Maika. Tei never missed an opportunity to spend time with Lily, and Maika insisted she was “great at camping.” The two of them never saw eye to eye on much, but they were able to put their differences aside to go camping together. 

The final person to join in on the adventure was Lily’s other partner in crime. 

“I-I think a camping trip sounds like a lot of fun! Can I come, too?” kokone feebly asked her blonde pal. 

“I don’t know. It might be a little rough for you, kokonut.” Lily teased her brown-haired buddy, but eventually came around and accepted her request. “Just stay close to me and Gumi at all times.” 

These eleven hapless adventurers trekked deep into the Execrated Forest, abandoning the sun behind the many tall trees above them. The sweet feeling of nature embraced them, with the sounds of birds chirping and rivers flowing filling the air. The plants and trees covered the scenery in a blanket of green, mixed with the brown from the tree trunks and the blue from the sky peering in through the leaves overhead. Nature could not be more beautiful. 

The grass completely covered the ground, without a hiking trail in sight. The Execrated Forest did not usually serve as a spot for campers, but there weren’t any laws against staying there, either. The people of Synthania preferred to stay away from it, and often discouraged people from venturing into it, but words of warning had a habit of going over Lily’s head. 

The trees that took up most of the forest gradually began to part. The campers knew they were reaching a clearing in the forest. While such a spot proved ideal for camping, Meiko and Yanhe preferred to take refuge under the trees. The crew continued walking until they reached a spot they deemed perfect. 

“How much longer do we have to walk? My feet hurt!” Rin complained, not being used to the physical exertion. 

“Yeah… and my back hurts…” kokone struggled to keep moving with the massive backpack Lily convinced her to carry. All the supplies necessary for two campsites were stuffed in two large backpacks. While kokone carried one, Merli simply levitated the other. Lily deemed this use of magic “cheating,” but Merli did not care for criticisms. 

“We could all use a bit of exercise, girls.” Meiko pushed on, unhindered by the tiresome trekking. Her confidence was admirable, which always provided great morale in the hardest of times. To Rin, this was one of those times.

Upon reaching the center of a large clearing, the group drew to a halt. Merli let the pack she levitated fall to the ground, rattling everything inside. On the contrary, kokone hesitated to put her own backpack down, fearing she would have to go through the process of picking it back up. 

“This looks like a good spot to set up our tents, don’t you all think so?” Lily happily turned to the others who moaned and groaned behind her. As celebrity singers, most of them were not used to walking such lengths. Lily’s eagerness kept her from tiring out, but her legs weren’t exactly thanking her, either. 

“Hold it, Lily,” Meiko came forward. “There’s such a big forest here. Wouldn’t it be better to find a spot closer to nature?”

“What do you mean? We’re IN nature.”

“I mean… like among the trees and animals. This is a pretty clear space here. Not much to see.” 

“We can go in there on hikes and stuff! This is the best spot to set up a base camp, though. Lots of sunlight, no wild cats to attack us…”

“I don’t like it. I’d rather camp somewhere else.” Meiko put her foot down.

The sternness took Lily by surprise. She didn’t expect any of her campers to rebel against her word, so she did not know how to handle such a situation. 

“I’d rather stay here,” Rin chimed in. “I can’t walk any further than this.”

“Me too…” kokone agreed, her knees buckling from the load on her back.

“Well, we do have two tents. If we wanted to put up two different campsites, we could--” Lily suggested, but Meiko cut her off.

“Sounds great. Two camps it is, then.” Meiko turned and addressed the crowd. “Anyone who does NOT want to be led by Lily, come with me!” 

Without hesitation, Xin Hua, Merli, and Yanhe came forward. Lily’s personal friends stayed back, but most of them were likely too tired to move. 

“Rin, you’re coming, too.” Meiko said to her blonde housemate. 

“Do I have to? I can’t go much farther than this.” 

“Understood. Merli?”

Merli took Meiko’s cue and waved her hand. In that instant, Rin lost control of her body and slowly lifted off the ground into a levitation.

“Wha--wha--hey! What’s going on?”

“I’ll levitate you for most of the way, but someone else is gonna have to carry the backpack.” Merli explained, keeping Rin afloat in the air. 

Not wasting any time, Yanhe lifted the stray backpack and hoisted it onto her own back. Unlike kokone, she did not appear to be struggling at all. The weight of the camping supplies did not burden her. 

“Let’s go, then.” Yanhe said with a smile as the others watched in fascination. 

“We’ll go that way,” Meiko pointed to a small passageway to the right. “When the five days are up, we’ll meet back here and leave together. I’ll show these girls a real camping trip.”

Lily huffed at such a claim. Without saying anything, she nodded and watched the five go off. Meiko, Merli, Yanhe, Xin Hua, and the levitating Rin shrunk in size as they moved further to the right. The other six were quiet until they disappeared into the forest, leaving them alone with a single backpack. None of them knew what to say about this whole situation. 

The silence broke when Tei put a hand on Lily’s shoulder and spoke to her.

“Don’t worry about them. We’re sticking with you through thick and thin.”

“Thanks, Tei.” 

“We’re the cooler camp, anyway. Mostly because we have me, but you’re awesome, too!”

Lily chuckled at Tei’s self-indulging flattery. All in all, the people she liked the most stuck with her. Her best pals, Gumi and kokone, the pleasant Yuki and Maika, and the ever-reliable Tei. She didn’t need Meiko, or any of them. She had the perfect team right there. 

“Anyway, should we get started?” Yuki spoke up, bringing the attention to her. “If we put the tent up now, we won’t have to worry about it later, right?”

Everyone agreed with this idea. kokone had all the camping supplies in her backpack, they just needed to take the supplies out and put up the tent. Simple.

“Great! Who knows how to pitch a tent?” Yuki asked the group.

Upon hearing this question, an awkward silence befell the six campers. Gumi and kokone exchanged an uncertain glance, Tei and Maika stared nervously at the ground, and Lily scratched the back of her neck.

“I forgot… Meiko and Yanhe were the only ones who knew how to pitch a tent…”

Silence again. The six campers stood in disbelief before Yuki finally uttered “We’re doomed.”


	2. Day 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The campers bond as they set up their camps for the first day of their trip.

**Lily's Camp**

Yuki strained to put up the tent, finally getting it to stay upright after much struggle. Lily, Maika, Tei, Gumi, and kokone watched in embarrassment as a literal child did what all of them were incapable of doing. 

“It’s not like putting up a tent is a commonly known skill!” Lily justified her ignorance. 

“Kiyoteru-sensei taught me everything I know,” Yuki dusted her hands off and stood back to admire her work. “Putting up a tent was one of the first things I learned how to do. Isn’t it pretty?”

On the outside, the tent had a white and blue color scheme. There were two rooms inside, and the group had difficulty deciding who would sleep where. Lily, Gumi, and kokone thought it best if they took the back room while Yuki, Tei, and Maika stuck to the front, but Tei was unhappy with the arrangements. 

“What? Am I not good enough to share a section of the tent with?” Maika grumbled. 

“No, I just need to be there to protect Lily. That’s all.” Tei folded her arms.

“Wouldn’t it be better to sleep in the front, then? An attacker would most likely come through there.” 

“What if a wild cat tore through the back of the tent and grabbed her while we were sleeping? How would I be able to live with myself if I let our beloved Lily be taken by a terrifying animal?” 

“What if it took me instead?” asked kokone. 

“I’m sure you could handle yourself.” 

Ultimately, the group decided they would sleep wherever they happened to fall asleep. Some of them didn’t even think they would sleep at all. 

“Well, what do we do next?” asked Maika once the tent was set up. 

Lily did not answer right away, as she occupied herself with glancing at the beautiful clear blue sky above her. Gumi had to shake her back to reality from behind.

“Whoa, sorry. I was trying to tell the time. We don’t have clocks out here, after all.”

“It’s 2:20.” Yuki stated.

Everyone looked at the kid in confusion, not understanding how she could possibly know the time without a clock. They didn’t dwell on it for long, since the attention quickly returned to Lily.

“Anyway, we better go find firewood before it gets dark out. We need to light a campfire.” 

The rest of the campers agreed. If Yuki’s time prediction were to be correct, they only had the rest of the afternoon to go searching through the woods. 

“kokonut, you’re with me,” Lily pointed to her companion. She usually picked kokone to go places with her, since the brunette always proved reliable and often did as she was told. “We’ll search the northmost side of the forest. Gumi, you stay here and watch the camp with Yuki. Maika, Tei, you two search the forest from the south.” 

“I’d rather go alone.” said Tei, receiving a glowering look from Maika. “What? I work best alone.”

“If that’s how you’re going to be, we don’t have to search together. I’ll gladly keep my distance.” Maika said in an offended tone. 

“Can you please refrain from fighting each other? We’re all in this together, you know.” Lily stepped in before the situation worsened. 

“I have a better idea,” Yuki stood up. “Why don’t Gumi and I go with Maika, and Tei can stay here to protect the camp. She’s obsessed with protecting things, isn't she?”

“Any objections to that, Tei?” Lily turned to face the girl in question, who quietly shook her head.

“I guess I’ll stay here. If anything tries to attack our camp, I’ll kill it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Gumi eagerly jumped up. “Let’s get out there and find some fire stuff!”

**Meiko’s Camp**

While Lily’s camp struggled to set themselves up, Meiko’s camp found a nice little shady spot to pitch their own tent. With all the trees hanging overhead, one could easily mistake it for nighttime, despite it being in the middle of the afternoon. The chilly air, the grassy ground, and the atmospheric sounds made for the perfect camping spot in Meiko’s mind. Yanhe, Merli, Xin Hua, and even Rin agreed. 

Once Yanhe set the backpack down, Meiko immediately got to work. Merli also set Rin down, letting her fall to the muddy ground.

“Ow! Hey!” 

“I was only supposed to carry you halfway. My magic wore off, so I need to take a few hours to recharge.” Merli stretched out her arms and yawned. Stepping past the others, she ambled over to a large tree and took a seat beneath it, relaxing and enjoying the fresh air. 

“You never told us your magic could wear off.” Yanhe eyed Merli suspiciously. 

“Oh yeah, it totally can. Don’t you know how fairies work? Anyway, I can’t exert myself for the next three hours or so. Just let me sit here and rest.” 

Yanhe rolled her eyes and moved over to Meiko, who had already opened the backpack and dumped the supplies onto the ground. She dug through it to grab the tent, eager to set it up as soon as possible. 

“Need some help with that?” asked Yanhe.

“Thank you, it’s so nice to have a helping hand around here.” Meiko accepted the offer while glaring at the others. Rin and Merli were still laying down, and Xin Hua was whistling aimlessly with her hands behind her back. 

Although no one knew how exactly Merli “recharged” her magic, Meiko and Yanhe continued working. Through teamwork, they were able to pitch the tent and put it up with little to no difficulty. Once it was finally standing, Rin took the opportunity to crawl through the front entryway and lay down inside. 

“The floor is comfy.” Rin said through breathy words, even though she had not done any sort of exercise for at least fifteen minutes. Meiko and Yanhe ignored her and continued setting the tent up from the outside.

The tent was white and green, and unlike Lily’s tent, it only had one room. This worked out, since Meiko’s camp had less members. Even so, the tent would prove to be a tight fit. Yanhe suggested that Merli shrink herself down to save space, but the fairy conveniently failed to hear her. 

Merli rested in relaxation for a good while, unbothered by the world around her. She closed her eyes and drifted away from the woods, entering a state of pure bliss. Nothing but Merli. The others ceased to exist and the purple-haired girl found herself lost in thought. The experience seemed almost meditational, with enlightenment only a few inches away. Merli needed to reach out and grab it. Her experience was truly a once in a lifetime event.

While Merli slipped away in her soothing nap, she failed to notice the short girl in the pink hat standing above her. Xin Hua kneeled on the ground beside Merli and looked into her face that sat full of contentment. She did not know what went through Merli’s mind, but out of curiosity, she broke the peaceful silence.

“Merli? You there?”

Merli’s blue eyes shot open, startling Xin Hua and causing her to stumble back. The fairy growled and shook her head out, returning to reality.

“What gives, Hua? Can’t you see I’m recharging here?”

“S-sorry! I was just curious about… whatever you were doing just now.” 

Merli resituated herself against the tree and prepared to drift off once again. However, Xin Hua scooted herself over and sat right beside her.

“Can I sit here?” Xin Hua asked with a smile nobody could possibly say no to.

“No.” Merli answered.

“Come on! Meiko and Yanhe are handling everything and I’m not strong enough to help them out. The least I can do is keep you company.” 

“Fine, I guess. There’s no way I’m getting back into my meditative state, anyway.” Merli grumbled.

The two purpleheads sat quietly for the next minute, simply admiring the scenery. The shade provided the perfect mixture of heat and coolness, which the girls gladly bathed in. A butterfly landed on Xin Hua’s leg, and she smiled at it as if it were a friend. She looked over to Merli, who seemed to be glancing off in the distance at absolutely nothing.

“I’m not familiar with fairy magic. How does it work?” Xin Hua asked, starting up a conversation. 

Merli laughed, and did not turn to look Xin Hua in the eye.

“Wouldn’t you like to know? The secrets of our powers are known only to us. We can’t go around telling everyone who asks, you know.” 

This answer took Xin Hua by surprise. She did not know how to respond to it.

“You fairies sure like your secrets, huh…” Xin Hua turned away, almost ready to abandon the question. However, her curiosity got the better of her. She turned back to Merli and giggled. “What if I told you a secret of my own? Then would you be willing to let me in on a few?”

Merli thought it over, though seeming as if she hadn’t heard it. After blankly staring forward for a few seconds, she turned to Xin Hua and delivered a response.

“Depends. How big of a secret is it?”

Xin Hua cupped her hand over her mouth and leaned in close to Merli. Taking the hint, Merli brought her ear close to Xin Hua and let her speak into it. As one purplehead whispered a secret to another, Merli’s eyes widened and a look of shock crossed her face. 

“Are you kidding me?” Merli asked, pulling away from Xin Hua.

“Nope! Pretty crazy, huh?”

“I’ll say. I guess a secret that big deserves a secret in return, huh?”

Xin Hua scooted even closer to Merli, excited to hear the great secrets of fairy power that were known only to Merli’s people. What great truths were about to be unraveled for her ears only?

Merli cupped her hand over her mouth and moved close to Xin Hua, who brought her own ear close to Merli. In that instant, Merli delivered her secret.

“I don’t actually have to recharge. I’m just sick of working.” 

Upon pulling away, the two girls stared at each other for a good few seconds. After a moment of looking into each other’s eyes, they both burst into laughter. Neither of them could deny the humor of the whole situation. 

“Alright, you little clowns,” Yanhe killed the laughter with her presence. “We need to go out and find some firewood and a good water source. Are you coming with or are you just gonna gossip to each other the whole time?”

“Oh, lighten up. We’re allowed to bond out here.” Merli rolled her eyes. 

“Leave them, Yanhe. Looks like we’ll be the only ones who get any work done out here.” said Meiko, getting ready to leave.

“You’re right. Let’s just go.” Yanhe moved over to join her partner. 

Xin Hua and Merli watched the camp leaders go. Meiko and Yanhe stomped off into the forest, leaving them behind. 

“Wow. What’s gotten into them?” Rin asked from inside the tent. 

“Seems like anger issues.” Merli shrugged. 

**Lily’s Camp**

Lily and kokone trudged through the woods, gathering all the useful materials they could find. kokone struggled to walk with the three large pieces of wood she carried in her arms. 

“Are you sure you… don’t want to carry any… Lily…?” kokone panted. 

“I told you, I need my hands free in case any wild cats attack us. You know how these forests are.”

“Are wild cats really such a threat out here?” asked kokone in confusion.

Rather than answering, Lily held her hand up and motioned for kokone to stop. The two girls stood still and silent for a good minute while Lily looked suspiciously at the ground.

“Lily--”

“SHH!” 

Lily slowly lowered herself to her knees and looked at small imprints in the mud beneath her. They seemed to resemble paws of some kind. Likely inhuman, from Lily’s perspective.

“Funny you should ask that, kokone,” Lily stood up. “I think we’re being watched.”

Hearing these words, sweat began to drip down kokone’s neck. Those were not good words to hear while in the middle of the wilderness. 

“H-how dangerous are wild cats…?” 

“It varies. Some are little kittens who just want to be petted, and others will rip you to shreds as soon as they get the chance.”

kokone gulped. She would have dropped the wood and ran if she didn’t care about abandoning Lily. She hoped that whatever animal watching them was friendly. 

“C-can you tell what kind of cat it is from the footprints?” 

“No,” Lily stood back up. “We should absolutely head back to camp, though. I don’t want to take my chances with whatever this thing is.” 

“Y-yeah, I agree…”

While Lily and kokone made their way back to camp, a shady figure in the trees watched them go. The figure scratched its claw against the branch it sat on, then slowly followed behind them; not making a sound. They were going to lead it right back to their campground. 

**Meiko’s Camp**

It didn’t take long for Meiko and Yanhe to find an opening in the forest. The greenery parted and led into a muddy path. At the bottom of the mud path was a decently-sized waterhole. 

“Jackpot! We found a water supply!” Meiko proclaimed. 

“Hey, we were here first!” 

Meiko and Yanhe were surprised to see Maika and Yuki come out from behind a nearby bush. It seemed they had also located the reliable water source. 

“Are we competing with one another? We should be able to share the waterhole. It is a part of nature, after all.” asked Yanhe. 

“Wait a minute, Yanhe,” Meiko intruded. “If we use the same water supply, we’ll be taking too much water away from the wildlife. Since our camp has less members, we should be the ones to use it.” 

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.” said Yanhe.

“No, it is! Kiyoteru-sensei always said that if I drink too much water from the fountain, there won’t be any left for the fish!” Yuki contributed. 

It took very little time for an argument to break out. Both sides argued over who should get ownership of the waterhole and who should find another one. Yanhe tried to intervene, but was quickly shot down. 

Unbeknownst to the girls who argued on the shore, something lurked beneath the waters of which they fought over. Yanhe, who no longer contributed to the conversation, turned to see bubbles emerging from underneath the water. Something under there was about to come up.

“Uh… girls?” Yanhe tried to get the other’s attention, but they were too caught up in their bickering to notice her. “Girls?!”

The creature in the water began to rise, and Yanhe’s face became stricken with fear. What vicious animal could possibly live inside a waterhole?

“GIRLS!”

Finally, Yuki and Meiko stopped arguing to see what Yanhe was referring to. When they saw the creature emerging from the water, all four of them froze with fear. 

“What is…” Maika could hardly speak.

Right then, a green monster emerged from the waterhole, splashing water everywhere and startling those who stood ashore.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!” Yanhe, Meiko, Yuki and Maika collectively screamed. Forgetting about their personal troubles, the four of them took off running back into the forest, leaving the waterhole behind them.

“Hey, what’s wrong?! The water’s perfectly fine!” the green monster called from where she swam. In actuality, it wasn’t a monster at all. 

“They can be so silly sometimes.” Gumi shrugged and went back underwater.


	3. Night 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Under the stars, Tei enlightens her campmates with a scary story.

**Lily’s Camp**

The sun went down and night fell on the campers of the Execrated Forest. The first day proved productive, though Lily’s camp did not accomplish quite as much as they set out to do. Even still, they successfully gathered firewood and found a reliable water source. However, It took some convincing to show Gumi that the waterhole was, in fact, not a giant bathtub. 

Lily, Yuki, Gumi, Tei, kokone, and Maika gathered outside their tent after Gumi promised to light the fire. Maika initially suggested bringing flint on the trip, but Lily turned this idea down, believing it would ruin the fun of surviving in the wilderness. 

“I don’t need no firestarter, anyway! All I need is this big brain of mine!” Gumi boasted. 

The others watched frightfully as Gumi ferociously spread friction to the sticks to create fire. This wasn’t the first, or second, or third, or even twentieth time Gumi bragged to her friends about her ability to start fires. Usually, these moments of bragging came at the most inappropriate of times. Lily would never forget the formal dinner party that Gumi royally ruined. They would never be allowed in the Yamaha household again. 

Everyone kept their distance from Gumi when sparks flew from the wood. When the flame grew, the green girl began to blow on it to support the rising fire. The others inched closer to get a better look, some were even ready to help when necessary, but Gumi had it handled pretty well. In no time at all, she had lit the very first fire.

“I knew those YouTube tutorials would pay off someday.” Gumi chuckled. 

The rest of the night was much less stressful than the events of the day. With all the work done, the campers only needed to rest and regain their strength. Lily made sure to tell Gumi how proud she was of her, then the six of them gathered around the campfire to enjoy a traditional campout night. Lily and Gumi sat together on a small log of wood, and kokone sat on the ground beside them. Gumi made sure to keep her handy bag of marshmallows near her. Maika, Tei, and Yuki sat spread out on the other side of the fire, each of them taking a load off from the busy day. That is, until Yuki reached into her small red backpack and pulled out a tiny book.

“What’s that, Yuki?” asked Maika. 

“I did a little bit of reading when we got back from the waterhole. Kiyoteru-sensei told me I shouldn’t miss out on any reading even when I’m out here, and he gave me this book!” Yuki held the book up to show the title to the other campers. It read:

History of Synthania and the Execrated Forest

“I’ve read that before, but the movie was better.” Tei joked. 

“This is interesting, actually! It says the Execrated Forest is believed to be cursed! The legend says the old gods of Vocaloid cursed it to imprison people who rebelled against them. They became shadowy monsters and they still walk around the forest looking for victims! I only read the first chapter, though, so I could be wrong.”

Gumi laughed and threw an arm around Lily. 

“That’s hilarious! That’s nothing compared to what Lily and I’ve seen, right, Lily?” 

“Right,” Lily nervously chuckled. “We have seen Gakupo in a speedo, after all.” 

“That’s nothing!” Tei stammered, bringing the attention to her. “If you wanna tell creepy campfire stories, I got one for you. One that I’ve heard personally, and know to be true!” 

“Ooh, tell it!” Gumi encouraged the white-haired girl, reaching into the bag of marshmallows and preparing to roast one on the fire. 

“I-I’d rather she didn’t…” kokone said, quivering on the ground. 

“Don’t tell me you’re scared, kokonut. It’s only a story.” Lily said, despite visibly shuddering, herself. 

“I-I am scared, yeah…” kokone admitted. “Can the story wait? I don’t wanna hear it right now…” 

“Yeah, good idea. Let’s just enjoy the nice quiet night for now!” Gumi seconded the idea. She held a marshmallow on a stick a little too close to the fire, letting it slowly burn. 

Tei rolled her eyes, but agreed to tell her story later. She figured if she told it before they fell asleep, the scare factor would greatly increase. Until that time came, the girls enjoyed the peaceful night, unaware of the creature watching them from the shadows. 

**Meiko’s Camp**

At Meiko’s campsite, starting the fire did not prove challenging for anyone. With one flick of her hand, Merli lit the firewood with magic. 

“Lily would have called that cheating.” Xin Hua giggled. 

“I thought your magic needed to recharge.” said Meiko, skeptically. 

“Three hours passed a while ago, but I might need another recharge after something like that.” Merli snickered. 

Merli and Xin Hua sat on one side of the fire, while Meiko and Yanhe sat on the other. Rin, however, dug through the supplies backpack until she found her special bag of oranges. The others watched her in confusion as she pulled an orange from the bag and popped it on the end of a stick as if it were a marshmallow. 

“Rin, what are you--” Yanhe began to ask, but she received an answer once Rin extended the stick into the campfire, roasting the orange. 

“How many opportunities do you get to have a fire-roasted orange? They’re really good, I promise.” 

Astounded by Rin’s inventiveness, the other campers couldn’t help but laugh. They were going to have a good night.

**Lily’s Camp**

After enjoying the fire, the six camper’s at Lily’s site gathered inside the tent. They sat in the front room under their blankets, while Tei sat front and center, ready to tell her story. Lily, Gumi, and kokone huddled under one blanket, while Yuki kept another all to herself. Maika sat beside Yuki with a big smile on her face, ready to face Tei’s story as if it were a challenge. 

Holding a flashlight, Tei lit her face up to add an eerie effect to the story she planned to tell. Yuki and kokone were less eager to hear the story than the others, but Lily wasn’t exactly thrilled, either. Once she had everyone where she wanted them, Tei told her tale.

“What you are about to hear is a true story. Folks around town know it, and believe it to be part of the curse of the Execrated Forest. It all started on a night like tonight… Six campers were lost in the forest, unable to find their way out.”

“Who were the campers?” asked Maika, temporarily breaking the story. 

“Funny you should ask. They were six girls… each of them were singers, if I’m not mistaken. Much like us…”

Maika chuckled and let Tei continue the story. Yuki had already disappeared under the blanket completely.

“A terrible storm raged above them, and they needed to find shelter. After hours of trudging through the trees, they found a small abandoned cabin. It was awful and looked like nobody had touched it in years. Desperate for a place to stay, they had no choice but to go inside…”

Lily and kokone huddled close under the blanket, both of them shivering. Perhaps the atmosphere and familiarity added to the tale’s effect. Tei went on.

“However, once they went inside… they couldn’t get out. The spirits that haunted the cabin imprisoned them inside, and they could never escape. As much as they screamed and banged on the doors and windows, none of them would open. They were trapped for all eternity, doomed to someday join the spirits that haunted the cabin! Nobody ever heard from them again!”

Lily and kokone screamed, pulling the blanket over themselves and bringing Gumi down with it. Maika, on the other hand, laughed and kept a straight face the entire time. 

“Is that all you got? Everyone knows that’s unrealistic.”

“You say that now, Maika, but will you be saying that when the spirits come for you?!” Tei threatened, inching closer to Maika with the flashlight lit up beneath her. Maika seemed unphased. 

“You’re gonna have to try harder than that, Tei. I’m not quite as easily scared as our fearless leader over there.” 

“Hmph.” Tei retracted. “You’re probably just really good at hiding your feelings. I bet you’re imploding on the inside.”

“M-maybe we should just go to sleep now… we’ve heard a little too much tonight…” Yuki peeked the top of her head out from under the blanket. 

“Good idea. The Internet girls over there are already snuggling, so we might as well.” Maika laughed. 

Lily, kokone, and Gumi had yet to emerge from beneath their blanket. They could not risk leaving the safety of the fabric to face the spirits of the night. 

“I suppose you’re right. Maybe you’ll be more scared after you have a few nightmares about it.” Tei chided. She refused to believe anyone would be unafraid of her storytelling. Maika had to be putting up a front. 

On that note, the campers retired for the night. The ones that managed to sleep had nightmares of Tei’s story coming true, but Maika slept quite soundly. She and Tei might have been the only ones. Little did any of them know; those who are sleeping make for the easiest of targets.


	4. Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Lily’s camp is ravaged overnight, the campers set out to hunt whatever attacked them.

**Lily’s Camp**

The campsite was a mess. 

When the girls woke up, they discovered something had raided their camp overnight. The firewood was scattered, most of the supplies were either missing or broken, and the entire campground was in a state of disarray. 

“What could have done this?” Lily asked in astonishment. She wanted to blame Meiko’s camp for such an attack, but something told her that wasn’t right. It must have been some kind of animal. 

“Hey, come look at this!” Gumi called from the side of the tent. Lily, Tei, Yuki, Maika, and kokone made haste to join her and see what she referred to. 

“Oh my Lola…” 

Across the side of the tent were large scratch marks from what seemed to be a claw. A wild animal must have tried to break in. Either that, or it was trying to give them some kind of warning. Either way, the marks were a bad omen. 

“Where did these come from?” asked a very concerned Maika. 

Before any further speculation could be made, Lily noticed the tracks on the ground. She drew everyone’s attention to them, and made note that they greatly resembled the pawprints she and kokone had seen on the first day. “A wild cat…” she muttered to herself.

“A wild cat? I knew one of those would try to break in!” Tei said in agitation.

“What do we do? What if it comes back?” kokone shuddered.

“It’s not going to come back. I know a thing or two about hunting. I’d say this pesky feline better say its prayers.” 

Tei hurried back into the tent, while the others watched her go. As she threw things around from the inside, the outsiders could hear phrases such as “Where is it? Why is this here? Where did I put that darn thing?” Eventually, she gave a “Aha! Here it is!” then emerged from the tent with her desired item in hand. 

“T-Tei! Don’t you think that’s a little… excessive?” kokone hid behind Lily at the sight of Tei’s large blade. 

“This is just a straight butcher knife,” Tei explained. “It’s far less lethal than most hunting tools. Unless I’m the one carrying it.”

Tei held her knife in the sunlight for all to see. The silvery blade glistened as Tei’s pale hand gripped the black handle. She did not plan on taking any prisoners. Anything that attacked her camp would surely pay the price. 

“Well, leader,” Tei continued. “We gonna go catch this cat or what?” 

“Y-yeah, we should. It might strike again.” Lily said, nervously backing away from the blade. 

“Good. You’re with me.” Tei stepped closer to Lily, taking charge of the situation. Lily gulped and nodded obediently. 

“I thought you worked best alone.” Maika put her hands on her hips. 

“I do, but I can’t let Lily out of my sights. You saw her quivering at my story last night.” 

Lily blushed with embarrassment. She hoped nobody would notice how terrified she actually was. Maybe Tei made a better leader than her. The knife-wielding girl did not back down from giving instructions.

After minimal further discussion, the group split off to go wild cat hunting. Gumi went with Maika and kokone went with Yuki, but the latter two stayed as close to the campsite as they possibly could. On the way out, Lily picked up the first large stick she came across. Tei used her knife to sharpen it and made a very sharp weapon out of a simple twig. 

Armed with knife and stick, Lily and Tei ventured out into the forest to seek out the wild cat that attacked them. 

**Meiko’s Camp**

Merli stared up at the sky as she let her body float over the water. Before sunrise, she and Xin Hua set out to visit the waterhole. While they had plenty of clean water at camp, they wanted to take some time for themselves and enjoy a little swim. Though they were lacking in productivity with Meiko and Yanhe running the show, they at least took the time to enjoy themselves. 

“It's nice out, isn’t it?” Xin Hua asked as she dove through the water like a fish. 

“Yes, it is now, but I’m getting a bad gut feeling.” Merli let her legs sink beneath the water and floated upright. “I think it’s going to storm tonight.”

“What? Can you predict the weather now?” Xin Hua giggled and playfully splashed Merli, who giggled in return.

“Not really, I just have really good intuition.” Merli splashed Xin Hua back, this time more aggressively. This meant war, and resulted in a playful splash battle. 

On the shore, Rin crept out from within the trees to watch the girls swim. She chuckled to herself and sat on a large rock, watching the water war unfold. She placed her bets on Merli, but the fight reached a stalemate when the two swimmers noticed Rin.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” asked Merli. 

“You think I wanna be alone back there with the two bossy women? I’d rather stick around for whatever you two are doing.”

“Care to join us, then?” Xin Hua asked, happy to have another friend nearby. 

“No thanks. I’d rather stay up here where it’s dry.” Rin stretched out her arms and legs on the rock, making herself comfortable. She did not care to swim like the others, she only wanted to relax after a tiresome day and night. 

Without a word, Merli and Xin Hua looked at one another knowingly. They had the same idea, and a diabolical grin that worked its way to Merli’s face showed that they were on the same page. Merli nodded, then turned over to Rin.

“Okay, if that’s how you want it to be.”

In that instant, Rin lost control of her body and floated up into the air. When she realized what was going on, her blue eyes widened and she gasped out loud. 

“What? What are you doing? Hey! Put me down!” 

Using her magic, Merli hovered the struggling Rin over the waterhole, causing the young blonde to shriek.

“No, no! Put me down! Stop it!” 

“As you wish.”

Merli released Rin, who gave a yelp as she fell into the water. Her impact gave a large splash, and she flailed her arms to get herself floating. Once she had herself afloat, she growled at the fairy.

“That was so uncool.” 

“You come into our territory, you face the consequences. Get her!” Merli declared. With that signal, she and Xin Hua began to viciously splash Rin, who desperately tried to splash back. After a while, she started to chuckle and enjoy the fun, too. 

**Lily’s Camp**

Lily dragged her large stick across the ground as she walked beside Tei, both of them on high alert. They scanned the trees, the bushes, and everything but the path in front of them for any wild animals or attackers. Occasionally, they would look down to see if they could find any footprints, but they had yet to have any luck. Whatever lurked out there must have been good at covering its tracks.

The skies overhead were growing ever more cloudy as the day progressed. As the afternoon approached, the sun started to hide behind the puffs of gray that floated in the formerly blue sky. While the day did not darken much, an unseasonable chill blew through the air. Lily made sure to check the forecast for the week before beginning the adventure, so a storm seemed out of the ordinary. 

“Tei?” Lily asked her partner as she walked. “Do you think whatever attacked us has a consciousness? Like, do they know about the sanctity of life?” 

“That’s quite a question to drop on me right now, Lily.” Tei answered without putting her guard down. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I’m just wondering what would motivate it to attack us. Is it just an animal that only knows how to kill, or is it aware that what it’s doing is wrong? Why would it attack us if we’re not doing anything to it?” 

Tei went quiet for a moment, then gave a semi-thought out answer. 

“I suppose in nature, there is no right or wrong. Only survival. This creature likely wants food, and most animals live on other living things.”

“Why would it destroy our supplies, then? It’s clearly out to attack us just for the sake of it.”

“Well, that goes back to my answer. In nature, there is no right or wrong. To this thing, whatever it is, all this might just be a game. It just wants to mess with us for sport. Would you say humans are any different?”

“Of course we are! We don’t just kill for the heck of it.”

“Are you sure? There are plenty of people who would gladly kill if given the chance. To some, it’s a thrill.” Tei held her knife closer to her chest. “When our species does the same, who are we to judge this animal? That is, if it even is an animal.”

“What if it’s a person?” 

Tei smiled. “Then my answer applies to it, as well.” 

Lily did not get time to give a response, since as soon as Tei said these words, she stepped into something dangerous and unexpected.

“Ah!”

Lily had walked into a rope trap someone had set up for them. She was yanked up by the feet and hung upside down from a nearby tree. Tei staggered back, almost equally as surprised as Lily.

“Tei, help! Get me down! HELP!”

“That’s strange,” Tei observed the trap that caught Lily. “If this isn’t the other camp playing tricks on us, whatever we’re hunting is smart enough to set traps.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I figured that out! Now get me down from here!” 

Luckily, the branch holding Lily did not sit too high above the ground. Tei was able to reach high enough to cut the rope that held her friend, but its thickness proved challenging even for her knife. After a heavy cut, the rope released Lily and sent her headfirst into the ground.

“Ow!” Lily said after making contact with the dirt. “Thanks…”

Tei helped Lily to her feet, then dusted her off. Lily felt a bit disoriented, a usual response to having been hung upside down. 

“You okay?” asked Tei, checking Lily for any bruises. 

“Yeah, just a little dizzy. And my head hurts.” 

After collecting themselves, the two girls stepped back and looked all around them. They gazed in separate directions, making sure their eyes did not miss a spot. They clutched their respective weapons in their hands, ready to use them as soon as something came charging. 

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Tei pressed her back up against Lily’s.

“What?” Lily returned, still looking all around her.

“We may be the ones being hunted. It isn’t safe out here.” Tei said back in a serious voice. Lily trembled at such a statement, but tried to keep her cool. She was the leader, after all. She needed to stay composed for the sake of her campmates. 

“What do you suppose we do, then?”

“We need to get back and warn the others. We have to build a defense for our campgrounds.” 

Lily nodded. Whatever they were hunting was smart and out to get them. They could not let it catch them unprepared. Knowing what they needed to do, Lily and Tei hurried back to camp. They had some work that needed to be done. 

**Meiko’s Camp**

“Come on, Rin! You can do better than that!” Yanhe chided her teammate. 

“I’m not good at catching, okay? I’m much better at throwing things!” 

Rin picked up the stray rock and lifted it over her head. She tossed it over to Meiko, but Merli caught it mid-flight using her levitation powers.

“Hey! That’s cheating!” 

“You know the rules, Merli,” Meiko scolded the fairy. “Even though we’re teammates, that’s gonna be a penalty for us.”

After a boring day, the campers decided to play a game of “Rock Ball” to lighten things up. Xin Hua opted to keep score, not having much interest in playing the game. Currently, the M Team was leading by one point. The teams were split between Meiko and Merli on the M Team, and Rin and Yanhe on the RY Team. Everyone figured Meiko and Yanhe would be too powerful as one team, so they divided them up. 

Xin Hua marked the score down on a piece of notebook paper, but had trouble keeping up, since the skies were darkening above her and causing a bit of concern. “It’s not supposed to rain today.” she thought, but nobody else seemed to notice the weather. They were too invested in their intense game of rock throwing. 

In the next round, Merli chucked the rock a little too far, sending it further into the forest. Someone needed to go and retrieve it.

“I got it, I got it!” Rin declared and took off running after the rock.

Stepping over a few overgrown plants and twigs, Rin made her way over to the rock. They had searched through countless stones to find one perfect for throwing, they were not about to lose it. Crunching fallen leaves beneath her white shoe, Rin maneuvered over to the rock and moved to pick it up. 

“There it is.”

Rin reached over and lifted the stone from the ground, but as soon as she did, she noticed something unusual. Beside where the rock had landed, a small imprint in the mud became visible. Rin squinted her eyes and moved her head closer to get a better look. It almost seemed paw-shaped. Like some kind of animal’s footprint. 

“Did the rock make that? Hmmm.” Rin nervously looked back to her campsite. 

“Hey, what’s taking so long? We got a game to continue!” Merli called over to the young blonde. 

Rin quickly perished the thought of the pawprint and turned back to her friends. “I got it! Let’s keep playing!” She ran back to continue the game, completely disregarding whatever warning this imprint intended to give. 

**Lily’s Camp**

“There. I think I got it.” Yuki tinkered with the tent, finally stationing it exactly where she wanted it. 

Lily, Gumi, Maika, Tei, and kokone watched from the ground as Yuki worked in the high-up branches of a tree. She had strategically placed their tent on a series of interconnected branches that allowed it to sit upright far above the ground. 

“Great work, Yuki! That wild cat will never get us now!” Gumi commended the kid.

“Are you sure this is safe? We’re not going to fall out of the tree or anything?” asked Maika. 

“Nope, it’s completely stable!” Yuki said from up top. “As long as nothing shakes the tree or anything like that.”

Yuki climbed down from a rope hanging from a branch. She assured the others they would need to pull the rope up overnight to keep the attacker from coming in, but their new security measures were sure to keep them safe.

“Do you really think the attacker is human? If so, it could just be Meiko or someone from her group.” Maika continued to question the situation. 

“Do you think an animal would be able to set a trap like the one that caught me?” Lily answered.

“Don’t underestimate the animals. I remember this one badger that would always steal my carrots, no matter where I’d put them!” Gumi argued. 

“You sure it wasn’t Gachapoid?” 

“Regardless, no matter what’s out there, we’re ready for it. There’s no way it’ll penetrate our forces this time.” Tei brandished her knife for all to see. Whatever came overnight would be no match for her. Or so she thought.

As dark clouds moved inward, the campers thought it best to spend the rest of the day in their treehouse tent. Rain began to come down, so each of them climbed the rope and hurried inside to stay dry. They made sure to pull the rope in after them to prevent any outsiders from climbing in.

“I thought you said it wasn’t going to rain for five days!” Tei glared at Lily. 

“Guess the forecast was wrong. What else is new?” 

While the six campers stayed dry and the storm increased in intensity, there was little doubt among them that something sinister lurked in the forest. Could the surprise storm have just been a bad weather prediction, or was there a greater force at large? Maybe the forest actually had a curse.


	5. Night 2 - The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A storm rages overnight and forces the campers to seek shelter.

**Lily’s Camp**

Harsh winds blew through the Execrated Forest, whistling through the trees and forcing the woodland creatures to take shelter. Thunder and lightning crashed through the skies, causing the forest to tremble beneath it. Rain poured down and gradually worsened, coming down in bucketfuls at a time. Nobody would want to be caught outside during such a storm. 

Inside the treehouse tent, Lily, Tei, kokone, Maika, Gumi, and Yuki huddled close together. None of them particularly liked storms, but Yuki and kokone were more frightened than the others. What a day to put a tent in a tree. To be closer to the sky on a day where the gods unleashed such fury on the world made for a bad stroke of luck. They found it hard to feel safe on such a night. 

“We should try to sleep. The storm will go by quicker if we do.” Tei suggested.

“How are we supposed to sleep in this weather?!” Gumi asked as she and kokone cuddled close to Lily. 

“I don’t know, just try not to think about it?” 

None of them were going to sleep that night. Despite their best efforts, they could not keep their eyes shut with all the crackling and booming going on outside. It was worse than trying to sleep on New Year’s Day with all the fireworks going off. No matter how hard they tried, they could not tune out the storm.

Great winds came from all directions, picking up speed and blowing branches off trees and uprooting a few plants. The tent trembled in place, while numerous objects flew at it from the outside. Even the Execrated Forest had not had a storm of such caliber in years. This was either a case of rotten luck or something did not want the singers in the forest. 

A heavy gust of wind swung itself against the tent, rattling it and shaking everyone inside. If any of them were even close to falling asleep, they sure weren’t anymore. Everyone screamed as another gust slammed into the side of the treehouse tent, slightly shifting it across the branches it rested upon. They were not sure how much more it could take. 

One final blow struck the tent with full force and removed it from its sitting place entirely. The tent flew off the branches and hurdled toward the ground, bringing everyone inside along with it. Their screams were cut off by the sudden impact, which hurled the campers toward the fabric wall. Lily, Gumi, kokone, Maika, Yuki, and Tei were flung through the side of the tent, tearing through the material and hitting the muddy ground on the outside. 

The tent was destroyed, and all its inhabitants were muddy and bruised. They were without shelter in such a terrible storm, their situation could not have possibly been worse. 

Tei lifted herself from the ground and scanned everyone beside her. “Is everyone alright?” she asked, checking on Lily who landed beside her.

“I’m fine, thanks.” Lily sat up and went to help kokone, who had fallen on her other side. 

Once the campers were all up and sure they hadn’t attained any serious injuries, they knew what needed to be done.

“We have to find Meiko’s camp. We can’t stay out here in this storm.” Lily took charge, keeping an arm around a weeping kokone. 

“You’re right. We might not all fit in their tent, but it’s the only choice we have.” Maika seconded this idea. Without anywhere else to go, the six girls left their ruined campsite behind them and trekked out blindly into the wilderness to find their other friends. 

Pushing on through the furious storm, Lily’s group hurried through the trees as quickly as they could manage. The more it rained, the harder it became for them to see where they were going. Lily, Tei, and Maika each tried to lead the front of the pack, but none of them could keep a stable sense of direction for more than a minute. kokone clung to Lily the whole time as if her life depended on it, and Gumi carried Yuki on her back. They were all drenched, their hair falling down flat and their outfits becoming uncomfortably soaked. Many of them had to continually push their bangs out of their eyes, but they would just fall back into place afterwards. 

Nobody knew, that after many twists and turns, they were going in the exact opposite direction of Meiko’s campsite. However, they would soon come across something equally as effective, though not quite as welcoming.

“Look! A house!”

Tei pointed out a small cabin that sat among the trees. Nobody expected to find any sort of manmade structure out there, but the cabin was actually rather sizable. Black and yellow restrictive tape stretched out across the front porch, reading “CAUTION” in bold letters. Someone did not want people going inside. However, it looked abandoned and riddled with cobwebs. The chances of the door being unlocked were pretty good.

“Let’s go in there! At least until the storm calms down.” Maika insisted.

“W-wait!” kokone shouted, still clinging to Lily with both arms wrapped tightly around her. “I-Isn’t that cabin just l-like the one… from Tei’s story?!”

Maika rolled her eyes. “That was just a stupid story Tei made up to scare us. This cabin is probably perfectly safe. Look, no one’s been in it for years! It’s abandoned!”

“What about the g-ghosts?!”

“This storm is more deadly than any ghost could ever be. Come on! We’re going inside!”

Unable to argue that point, the girls followed Maika into the creepy cabin. Anything was better than facing the storm for even a minute more. They were fortunate enough to find the door open, and all six of them hurried inside. Shutting the large wooden door behind them, they left the storm outside and took refuge inside.

**Meiko’s Camp**

Meiko’s camp, despite being on the ground, also suffered from the storm outside. Meiko, Yanhe, Rin, Xin Hua, and Merli sheltered close together, unable to sleep or take their minds off the storm. 

“It’ll pass soon, don’t worry.” Yanhe assured the crew. 

Just when they thought things couldn’t possibly get worse, the sound of scuttling outside caught everyone’s attention.

“Wh-what was that?” Rin quivered. 

“Must be some animal trying to shelter from the storm,” Meiko theorized. “Ignore it.”

Although the campers tried to ignore the sound, it only grew closer and louder. The scuttling outside almost overpowered the storm in terms of loudness. 

“What if it’s one of Lily’s campers looking for shelter?” asked Xin Hua.

“Leave them. Serves her right for splitting up with us.”

“You were the one who split off, though.”

After the brief moment of worry, the noise outside finally died down. Everyone moved closer to the wall to see if the thing outside had actually left. However, as soon as they felt everything was safe, a loud scratching noise broke out from the side of the tent.

The five girls shrieked when they heard the scratching, and each of them hurried to the center of the tent to be as far as they could from the creature outside.

“Well, one of us should go out there and have a look.” Merli stated, before all eyes turned to her. “Not me! I’m still recharging from exerting myself so much today!”

“Well SOMEONE has to go out there and check! Whatever that is might tear through the tent!” Meiko demanded.

Before further argument ensued, Xin Hua looked over to the notebook she had kept score on earlier. The front page still displayed the tally marks, marking Team M’s victory over Team RY. She crawled across the tent floor to retrieve it, and flipped the page to the next one.

“Okay, everyone, how about this?” Xin Hua spoke up. “Let’s take a vote. Whoever gets the most votes has to go outside and check!” 

Everyone exchanged a glance with each other, before looking back to Xin Hua. After a silent exchange, they all agreed to the plan. It would only be fair. 

Xin Hua tore off five pieces of paper and handed them to each of her campmates. They retrieved pens from the backpack, and all at once, they voted on who should go outside. Xin Hua and Merli whispered to one another during the voting process, so Meiko and Yanhe did the same. The groups of twos eyed each other angrily as they scribbled names on their respective sheets of paper. Once every one of them had voted, they put their votes down and Xin Hua went to read them out loud.

“Once the votes are read, the decision is final. The person voted off will be asked to leave the tent to see whatever the heck is outside.” Xin Hua said as if she were a reality show host. She picked up the first vote and unfolded it to read out loud. 

“First vote… Merli.”

Merli snarled and looked around the tent to see who put her name down.

“... Rin.”

Rin gasped at the sight of her name.

“... Rin. That’s two votes Rin, one vote Merli.”

Rin and Merli gulped as Xin Hua read the next vote.

“... Rin. The person voted out of the tent… Rin. The camp has spoken. It’s time for you to go.”

“What a blindside.” Yanhe said, quietly.

With much frustration, Rin stood up and angrily kicked the backpack across the floor. After growling to herself, she addressed the group.

“Fine, I’ll go. But my hospital bill’s on all of you.”

Wishing their brave soldier the best of luck, Meiko’s team saw Rin exit from the tent and enter into the horrible wilderness. She prepared herself to face whatever she met outside, human or not.

“Please be a chipmunk, please be a chipmunk, please be a chipmunk…” Rin repeatedly said to herself. As her white shoes stepped into the mud outside, she looked all around, trying her best to see through the rain that clouded her vision. She moved to the side of the tent where the scratching took place, but she found nothing out of the ordinary. “Huh. Maybe it left. Bye bye, chipmunk.” 

Rin took a moment to look around and make sure nobody was out there. She wanted to be sure before going back inside, since although she hated being out there, she didn’t want some wild animal tearing through the tent. 

While Rin searched around, she failed to notice the figure creeping up behind her, ready to strike. Only when it stepped on a twig did she stop in her tracks and look up. Wondering what could have possibly made the noise, she slowly turned her head over her shoulder to see what stood behind her. However, as soon as her eyes made contact with it, she tried to scream.


	6. Night 2 - The Cabin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily and friends take shelter in a cabin, but something is very off about it.

Lily and company searched around their new hideout, trying to get a feel for the area. The living room only had a torn-up couch, a broken TV, and a grandfather clock that somehow still worked. It looked straight out of a horror movie. 

“kokone, you can let go of me now.” Lily said to the brunette clinging onto her.

“No, I can’t. Never.”

Maika and Yuki checked out the creepy hallway, which led to a series of smaller rooms. One was a bathroom covered in filth and rot, which neither of them enjoyed looking at. Another was a completely barren room with absolutely nothing in it. Seemed like a waste of space. The last room was filled to the brim with garbage. Nothing useful, just torn up papers, wood, wrappers, bricks, and so on. No ghosts, but nothing of interest.

Gumi and Tei checked out the kitchen, which somehow looked worse than the rest of the house. When kokone finally let Lily go, she joined them in the dining area. Everything in sight was dirty and rotted, and all pieces of technology were broken. The fridge was empty, the old-fashioned radio did not pick up any signals, the mini TV resting on the table did not turn on, and nobody trusted the oven. 

“Well, this place sucks.” Gumi commented. 

Lily looked around, trying to see all she could see in the tiny room. Apart from a few spider webs and broken dishes, nothing jumped out at her.

“Well, we’re only staying here for the night. When the storm dies down, we’ll go find Meiko and the others. I don’t think we’ll be going back to our own campground.” 

“I-I don’t like this place! Let’s go back out in the storm!” kokone poked into the kitchen and complained.

“Nonsense, it’s perfectly safe here,” Maika came up from behind kokone, spooking her. “Yuki and I just checked the entire place from top to bottom, no spirits anywhere.” 

“Of course you c-can’t see any… Spirits are… i-invisible…”

“Enough of that, kokonut,” Lily put her hand on kokone’s shoulder. “If there are any spirits here, which there aren’t, I could easily take them on.”

As soon as Lily said this, an open cabinet in the kitchen slammed shut, causing everyone to jump back and look at it. 

“Must have been a draft.” Lily shrugged. 

Deciding to ignore the possible sign of aggression, the six girls decided to try and get some rest. They retrieved a small blanket from the couch in the living room, but they had one tiny problem. There were six of them.

“We can’t all fit under here!” Maika pointed out. 

“You’re right. This place doesn’t have any sort of heating system, so it’s too cold to sleep without any sort of coverage.” Lily noted. “Maybe there’s another blanket in the bedroom back there?”

“You could check. I don’t remember seeing any, but maybe I just wasn’t looking hard enough.”

“I will. A blanket shouldn’t be too hard to find in a bedroom.”

The bedroom had become more of a trash room, as Maika and Yuki discovered. Regardless, Lily was determined to find at least one extra blanket. The ones they brought with them were still in the tattered tent, since they didn’t take the time to salvage their supplies before running off. They had more pressing matters to attend to. 

Leaving the others in the living room, Lily set off down the long, dark hallway to find the bedroom. For some reason, it seemed even darker for her than it did for Yuki and Maika. She nearly tripped over a stray brick in the middle of the hall, but she caught herself just in time. After shaking head out and trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness, she kept going.

“This place could use some electricity. I don’t think anyone’s paid the bill in years.”

Lily tried to keep herself centered and kept her distance from the walls. Since several pieces of wood were jutting out, she did not want to risk cutting herself on them. After moving past the undesirable bathroom, the blonde girl finally reached the bedroom. With great anticipation, she opened the door and stepped inside.

Immediately, Lily had a hard time finding a place to stand. Junk littered the floor as far as the eye could see, and if she didn’t know any better, she wouldn’t have even recognized the place as a bedroom. She stepped over as much as she could, and crunched other objects beneath her boot. She worked over to the bed to try and claim a blanket, but once she made it there, she discovered that it was only a beat-up mattress without any sheets on top.

“Great. Just great.”

Ignoring the bed, Lily’s next decision was to search the floor for anything that could serve as a blanket. At that point, she would gladly accept a towel or something like it. While she searched the floor, not having much luck with her discoveries, the bedroom door slowly slid shut behind her. When she heard it close, she poked her head up and turned around.

“Hey… what the heck?”

Lily stepped over the garbage to reach the door, but on her way there, a piece of notebook paper blew across the floor and landed on her leg. Curiously, she bent down to take a look at it. It did not feel drafty in the room, so she did not know how it managed to fly at her.

“What’s this?”

Lily held the paper up so she could read it. As the room was very dark, she struggled to find a position suitable for reading. A few cracks in the walls provided moonlight, which allowed her to see the words written in red ink. After letting her eyes adjust a little more, Lily read the note.

“You can take me on?”

Lily gulped upon reading the note. She recalled what she had said earlier when kokone mentioned a ghost in the cabin. “I could easily take them on,” she said. Could this have been a coincidence, or was there a ghost willing to accept Lily’s challenge?

Lily did not have much time to think it over, because as soon as she put the note down, the room began to shake. Lily staggered to keep her balance as every object on the floor trembled all around her. She stood back and watched, trying to pace over to the door, but a piece of wood flew at her and forced her to shield herself.

“AH! What’s going on?!”

A sinister, feminine chortle echoed through the room, as more objects of varying sorts were thrown at Lily. A book, a cinderblock (which she luckily dodged), a teddy bear, an old telephone, and even an anime figurine.

“Time for a pillow fight!” the feminine voice said, seizing Lily by the legs with an unseen force.

“H-hey! Let me go! Let me go!” 

The force flung Lily onto the filthy mattress, then proceeded to bombard her with pillows. She shrieked and cried for help, but pillows continually flung in her face as a young girl’s voice teased her. “Pillow fight! Pillow fight! Pillow fight!”

Once the pillows let up, Lily shot up from the bed and tried to catch her breath. Before long, her own hand balled up into a fist and swung itself at her cheek. She yelped as she punched herself in the face, then did it again, and again, and again.

“Stop hitting yourself, you silly goose!” the voice teased again. 

Once the unseen force finished punching Lily, it pulled her hand off the bed and dragged her to the floor. It dragged a screaming Lily across the junk-filled ground and rammed her headfirst into the door. Lily tried to get back up, but her hand seized the figurine from the ground and proceeded to smash it against the top of her head. It then picked up the teddy bear and repeatedly slammed it into her cranium.

Using her other hand, Lily finally stopped the spirit’s terror by grabbing her wrist and pinning it to the floor. Dripping with sweat and hurting from her semi-self-inflicted pain, Lily cried out.

“You monster, you dirty monster... give me back my hand… GIVE ME BACK MY HAND!” 

Hearing Lily’s cries of distress, someone finally came to open the door. When the door opened, Gumi and kokone rushed in.

“Lily, are you okay? We heard scream--”

Lily threw her fist forward and punched kokone in the face, knocking her back into the hallway. 

“Lily, what the heck is wrong with you?!” Gumi shouted. 

“I can’t control it! She’s got me!” 

“Who?!”

At the same time, the force shoved Gumi and Lily out of the room, throwing them across the hallway back to the living room. It then tossed kokone back to them, placing each of them in a tidy little pile. 

“What in the name of Leon is going on here?!” Tei came running with her knife, but quickly had it stripped from her grip. “What?”

The knife levitated beside Tei, then made for her. Tei shrieked and ran from the flying knife, dashing through the living room and dramatically leaping over the couch. The knife flung itself into a wall and stuck there, which attracted the attention of Maika and Yuki.

“This place is haunted! We have to get out of here!” Yuki screamed at the top of her lungs. No one had any qualms with that idea. Maika hurried over to the door and tried to open it.

However, it would not open. 

Maika tried to turn the knob as best as she could, but the door was stuck in place. Nothing she did could get it to budge.

“It won’t open! What’s going on?!”

Once again, the feminine giggle Lily heard from earlier returned. Everyone stood up and gathered in the center of the cabin, ready to fight their invisible assailant. 

“Come out, you coward! Show yourself!” Tei threatened.

“If that’s what you want…”

In that instant, before the camper’s very eyes, the invisible attacker made herself known. Out of the darkness, the silhouette of a young woman appeared. She had long, light-colored twin-tails that hung close to the ground, her face gave off a youthful demeanor, and she wore a short skirt with long leggings. She seemed oddly familiar.

“Miku?” Gumi asked out loud.

“No. My name is Ring. I am the spirit that resides inside this cabin,” the twin-tailed spirit giggled. “I, too, was once a lost traveler like you. I wound up here, trapped in this forest long ago. Now, it is my destiny to trap any hapless wanderers here with me. I’ve been so lonely for so long… it’s so good to have friends again. You girls won’t leave me, will you? I can’t let you… I can’t let you do that.”

Lily, Tei, Maika, Yuki, Gumi, and kokone were frozen in fright. None of them knew what to say or do. This was beginning to resemble the events from Tei's campfire story, which made for an odd coincidence. The forest really was cursed, and they were about to fall victim to it! They needed to get out of there, and fast.

“H-hey, we have a couple other friends out there,” Gumi tried to reason with the spirit. “If you let us go for a bit, we can go and get them and you’ll have even more friends!”

“Nice try, but I’m not falling for that.” Ring said with pride. 

“N-no, we really do! We promise!”

While Gumi tried to strike a deal with the vengeful specter, Lily took a look around. No windows in sight. From her earlier search of the cabin, there weren’t any other exits. They weren’t getting out of there through the front door, and she didn’t know if they had any tools for tearing the walls down.

Then, it clicked. Much of the wood was rotted away. If they could find a hole in the walls big enough for them, they could crawl out with little difficulty. As she looked around for a possible way out, she uncovered a tiny hole in the wall behind the couch. Only one problem: it was much too small. Then, Lily thought of a solution. 

“What if you only let one of us go?” Gumi continued to argue with the captor.

“Not a chance. I don’t trust you in the slightest.”

“Why don’t you go and we’ll stay here? You should leave the door unlocked so you can get back in.”

With Ring distracted, Lily pulled Yuki aside and whispered something in her ear. Yuki nodded, but did not say a word. As she scuttled off, Lily returned to Gumi’s side. Ring was about ready to unleash havoc. 

“None of you are leaving, and that is final! I’ve waited for so long, and I finally have you here! I can’t let any of you escape. I’m sure you understand.” 

“I guess so. I’m all outta arguments.” Gumi threw in the towel. 

“Now, if you would be so kind,” Ring surveyed each of her captives, but stopped when she noticed a discrepancy. “Uh, wasn’t there a small one with you?”

“Beats me.” Lily responded.

Ring glanced around the room to locate the missing prisoner, but did not find her among the others. At last, she looked behind the couch and saw the small opening which Yuki used to escape. 

“NOOOOO! She’s gotten away!”

“Hey, if you let us out, we can go after her!” Gumi came up with a new argument.

“Not a chance.”

“Eh. It was worth a shot.”

Outside, in the stormy wilderness, Yuki sprinted as fast as her tiny legs could carry her. Lily had given her simple instructions: Find Meiko’s camp and get help. Yuki wasn’t so sure they would believe her if she told them the truth, but she figured she would cross that bridge when she got there.

Even while panting and struggling to breathe, Yuki did not slow down. If anyone happened to be chasing her, she would not give them an opening to catch her. She tried to remember the exact path she took to reach the cabin, but her memory was hazy. After all, she could hardly see a thing. 

Following her instincts, Yuki continued down the dark path, bent on reaching Meiko’s camp by all means necessary. She almost forgot to keep track of her trail, which would have made it harder to return to the cabin. “I gotta save them…” Yuki told herself under her breath. The fate of her friends rested in her hands.

Meanwhile, from atop a tree branch, something watched Yuki go. Once it saw her zip by, it leaped to the nearest branch and trailed her. Watching her every move, the beast waited for the right moment to strike. 

After several minutes of nonstop running, Yuki started to slow down. She stopped to catch her breath, allowing the beast to inch closer. Luckily for her, the storm was beginning to let up. Her path became clearer, and she wasn’t quite as drenched from the rain. She could see the damaged tent that once acted as a treehouse, and she knew from that sight that Meiko’s camp must have been nearby.

With a new sense of motivation, Yuki sprinted once again. The beast lunged for her just as she darted out of the way, causing it to miss its target. Even so, it collected itself quickly and continued following her. Yuki did not slow down the entire rest of the way, and although she did not know exactly where Meiko set up camp, she had a pretty good idea of what direction she went in.

After leaving the clearing, Yuki faced trees, trees, and more trees. She jumped over fallen branches, ducked under low-hanging ones, and even tripped once or twice. This did not distract her from her goal. She needed to save her friends by any means necessary.

At last, Yuki finally reached her destination. She stopped running to catch her breath, amazed at herself for how far she managed to travel. She did not know how far away she was from the cabin, but she still made a great effort to get from there to the campsite. As soon as she caught her breath, she looked up to see what she had come for.

Nothing.

All that remained of Meiko’s camp was a torn-up tent, broken supplies, and pawprints in the mud that resembled that of a cat’s. 

“Oh my gosh! What happened here?!”

Yuki tried to find any indication of what might have happened, but apart from the footprints, nothing helped her. Her friends from the other camp were gone. Either they ran off, or something took them. 

“This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening…”

Yuki tried to keep herself from panicking, but in doing so, she failed to notice that the beast had finally caught up with her. While she did not hear it at first, her needless meandering around the abandoned campsite gave it ample time to close in on her.

By the time Yuki turned around to see what had chased her, it was too late. Nobody could hear her scream.


	7. Day 3 - The Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily, Gumi, Maika, Tei, and kokone attempt to escape from the cabin, but they are pursued by unforeseeable attackers.

“Back, demon! Stay back!” Tei swung her knife through the air, trying to ward off Ring Suzune, who hovered over her. Lily, Maika, Gumi, and kokone attempted to hide under the blanket behind their guardian, but Ring did not seem phased by Tei’s attempts at threatening her.

“I could take that knife from you without lifting my finger, you know.” Ring reminded Tei of her supernatural power. 

“I know, but I can at least look cool defending my friends!”

By this point, the girls had tried everything in their power to defeat Ring. They learned the hard way that she was invincible, and capable of turning anything they threw at her back at them. She could bend everything in the house to her every whim, which made her impossible to fight in her own terrain. She would not let them leave under any circumstances. 

“We’ve been here for hours now. Where is Yuki?” asked Maika under the blanket, growing impatient with their awaited savior.

“Maybe she got lost. It’s not hard for a child to lose their way in these woods.” answered Lily, who sat squished between Gumi and kokone. They did not space themselves out too well under the blanket, but it mattered little, since Ring soon lifted it off of them, anyway. 

“Now, if you will excuse me, I am very tired. It has been a long day of playtime. I must check in for the day. I suggest you do the same, since you haven’t slept at all.” Ring dropped the blanket and turned away from the girls of which she tormented. 

“I didn’t know spirits needed to sleep.” Tei lifted an eyebrow.

“Oh, yes, we do. Using up energy takes a lot out of us, and we must rest to cover. We’re a lot like fairies in that regard.” 

The girls watched as Ring walked off into the darkness and started to fade away. As she left, she turned over her shoulder to give one last farewell.

“Be good while I’m away. We’ll play much more when night falls again. Goodbye.”

Ring disappeared, leaving her captive audience alone in the living room. All of them were exhausted, but none of them had the strength to sleep. After being kept awake by both a storm and a haunting, they were very strapped for energy. Even after Ring encouraged them to rest, they knew better than to do such a thing. Since Ring left them unsupervised, they had the perfect opportunity to make their getaway.

“Do you think she sleeps in the bedroom?” asked kokone.

“Absolutely. Why do you think she attacked us in the first place? I went in her room!” Lily explained. 

“Okay, so let’s avoid that room. We need to find another way out of here. None of us are going to fit through that crawl space in the wall. What other options do we have?” Maika asked the group. 

Gumi suggested breaking the wall down, but that idea was turned over for two reasons. One, they didn’t have the tools for doing so. Two, it would make too much noise and wake up Ring. Once this idea got shot down, nobody could think of anything else. They were stumped.

After a long conversation that ended up going absolutely nowhere, the five decided the most they could do was search the cabin for a way out that they might have missed. While they were certain they hadn’t missed anything, they didn’t have many other options. 

“What’s our battle plan, leader?” Tei turned to Lily, once again putting her on the leadership pedestal. At least coming up with plans to search a small house wasn’t too hard for Lily. 

“kokone and I will search the kitchen. Maika, you search the bathroom. Gumi, you search that weird empty room. Tei, stay here and make sure there’s nothing we missed. Gumi, Maika, since you’re going to be close to the bedroom, be extremely quiet. We can’t risk waking Ring up.” 

“Of course I get stuck with bathroom duty.” Maika rolled her eyes. 

“Let’s not waste any time. We only have until Ring wakes up, and I don’t wanna stick around to find out how long it takes a ghost to recharge their energy. Let’s get searching!”

On Lily’s cue, everyone took off to their respective parts of the cabin. They tried to search as quietly as possible, going over every nook and cranny for anything they might have missed. In the kitchen, Lily and kokone tore through every cabinet and drawer. They found a lot of food far past its expiration date, but nothing that could help them escape. kokone even peeked into a mouse hole, but didn’t find anything inside.

“Do you honestly think we’d be able to fit through there?” Lily shook her head.

“M-maybe…”

In the bathroom, Maika searched through everything as if it were on fire. She would only look so deep into the toilet before giving up. “If there’s an escape route in there, I don’t want to escape.” she said. She checked the cabinets beneath the sink, the mirror, and the shower. Nothing. She was about ready to give up, until Gumi popped her head in the room.

“Hey, Maika! I found something!”

“SHH!”

“Oh, right!” Gumi whispered. “Let’s go get the others. This is big!”

Gumi and Maika hurried down the hall to find Tei, Lily, and kokone. Once they retrieved their friends, they returned to the empty room to find what Gumi had discovered.

“Gumgum, you’re a genius!” Lily said when she saw her friend’s discovery.

A small hatch perfectly blended in with the floor, and upon opening it, it revealed a staircase going into a cellar-like area. Gumi climbed down the first couple of steps to show how sturdy they were.

“We can escape through here! There must be a way out down here!” Gumi's voice slightly echoed the further she walked down. 

“I don’t know,” Maika was skeptical. “What if it just leads to a basement or something? Even worse, what if it leads to where Ring is sleeping?” 

“Well, then maybe we’ll find our escape route in the basement. And I told you, I’m more than convinced Ring sleeps in the bedroom.” Lily argued. 

“Only one way to find out.” Tei stepped over to the hatch. They had no other choice but to see where the staircase led. 

One by one, the curious girls stepped down the staircase into the dark cellar. They made sure to close the hatch behind them as quietly as possible, which wasn’t quiet at all. Lily took up the rear and the five of them descended down the steps. What horrors awaited them at the bottom? They could not tell, as it was too dark to see ahead. Gumi’s bright green hair and orange dress provided most of the light, and she guided the others to the floor.

As the adventurers gradually descended, the air grew chillier and much more frightful. Gumi walked into a large spider web and had to fight through it, tossing it behind her into Tei’s hair. Nothing about this journey downwards brought any positivity, but they had to keep their morale high and not lose sight of escaping. 

In a row, Gumi, Tei, Maika, kokone, and Lily stepped off the staircase into the strangest basement they had ever seen. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t a basement at all. The walls were not man-made, and they appeared to be made of stone. Even the ground was stone, covered in dirt and cracks. 

“What is this, a mine shaft?” Tei stepped in front of Gumi and held her knife out. 

“It would seem the basement is actually a series of caves,” Maika observed. “Maybe explorers built the cabin up there for easy access.”

Maika’s observation was correct. The underside of the cabin contained a large cave. Stalagmites stuck out from the ground, and stalactites hung from the roof further inside. Tiny rodents scampered across the mucky ground, running for cover when they saw the visitors approaching.

Gumi took up the front, peering around and guiding her friends through the cave. Tei stuck right behind her, ready to strike anything with her knife if it tried to attack them. kokone, as usual, stuck close to Lily. The two of them walked in front of Maika, who seemed more interested in surveying the surroundings than going deeper into the cave.

“Come on, Maika, let’s get a move on.” Lily encouraged the bright-haired girl. 

“Right, right.” getting her head back in the game, Maika hurried to the front of the pack to walk beside Tei. Gumi moved back to be closer to Lily and kokone, the latter hiding behind her blonde friend. Tei and Maika exchanged glares for a brief moment, but kept their focus on leading the group out of the cavern. 

As Tei, Maika, Gumi, Lily, and kokone marched through the darkness, several red eyes glowered down upon them from all angles. They were soulless and did not contain pupils, and not a single one blinked. The bodies of those who owned the eyes were shrouded in the blackness covering most of the cave, but their eyes lit up like wildfires and almost provided a feasible light source. 

What were these creatures? One might call them indefinable. As a matter of fact, that made for a most fitting title. Indefinable beasts that dwelled in the shadows. The unlucky few who had seen them deemed them “Indefinable Shadow Beasts,” or “ISBs” for short. Many sources, such as Yuki’s book from earlier, referred to them as part of legend. Part of the curse that plagued the Execrated Forest. Those who encountered them were not likely to survive. Nobody knew where these monstrosities came from, but an underground cave beneath the forest made the perfect home for them. 

Like always, the girls failed their spot checks. They walked fairly deep into the cave without noticing the wandering eyes following their every movement. It wasn’t until kokone felt a chill down her back, a typical sign of an ISB’s presence, that they realized something was wrong. Of course, none of them did much reading, so they were quite unfamiliar with the signs of the Indefinable Shadow Beast.

“What’s wrong, kokonut?” Lily asked her chilly friend. 

“N-nothing. D-did it get cold in here, or is it just me?”

It was not just her. Around every corner, through every crevice, big and small, pairs of eyes closed in on the group of five. The red orbs floated in the darkness and moved closer and closer to where they stood. Parting from the darkness, the creatures began to take shape. Only then did someone finally take notice of them.

“Girls, look!” Maika pointed to the beasts that now completely surrounded them.

Everyone gasped and backed into one another to distance themselves from the approaching enemies. Even after parting from the darkness, the monsters appeared to resemble large orbs of darkness, themselves. They changed shape as they moved, as if they were heapings of jello. The air grew colder and colder, and the monsters grew closer and closer. 

“What do we do?! What do we do?!” kokone shouted, frantically. 

“Stay away from us! I’m armed!” Tei swung her knife at the nearest ISB. It detracted its skin to avoid contact, but the swing was just enough to get it to back down.

“We’re completely surrounded! We can’t get out of here!” Maika panicked, beginning to lose all hope.

Much like Maika, Lily, Gumi, and kokone were terrified. They almost couldn’t move, as they were scared stiff. The only one seeming to keep her composure was Tei, and that was probably because she had a knife. The more she swung it, the more the ISBs backed away. Unlike Ring, these things might have actually feared the knife. 

“Come get some!” Tei leaped at the nearest Indefinable Shadow Beast and struck it. It gave a shrill, deafening screech upon being struck, which forced all the girls to cover their ears. This only served as a momentary distraction, as the beasts continued to circle the girls. The soon-to-be victims were about to find out just what these monsters did to their prey. 

“Lily…” Tei pulled the leader close and spoke quietly to her. “I’m going to distract these things. You take the others and run. Get out of here while they’re distracted. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“What?!” Lily gasped. “You can’t! There are so many of them!”

“GO! I can handle myself!” 

Tei shoved Lily through an opening between a couple of ISBs. Before they could hasten after her, Tei struck them both with her knife. They also gave loud screeches of pain, which distracted them long enough for Gumi, Maika, and kokone to slip through them. 

“Go! Get out of here! They won’t even scratch me!” Tei commanded the others. She did not stop swinging her knife at every monster that came near her.

“You always did make a good leader, Tei,” Maika shook her head and cracked a smile. “But you need to learn one little thing...” 

Maika stepped away from Gumi, Lily, and kokone to pick up a sharp stone on the ground. Giving a small shout, she leaped back through the ISBs to land by Tei’s side, then proceeded to stab the nearest fiend with the rock. It gave the same effect as the knife.

“You need to learn when you can’t do something alone.” Maika smiled at the white-haired knife-wielder, who smiled back at her.

“You’re right. Let’s do this together.”

“Mhm,” Maika nodded. “You girls go, we’ll catch up. We promise.” 

Tei and Maika unleashed havoc on the beasts, while their hesitant friends mulled over whether they should take the opportunity to escape or not. Realizing they probably wouldn’t get the chance again, Gumi made the decision for them.

“Come on! Let’s get out of here! They got this!” Gumi snatched Lily’s hand and pulled her along. Lily grabbed kokone by the arm and dragged her along, too.

“Wh--hey! We can’t just leave them!” Lily looked back as Gumi sprinted with her in hand.

“We can’t stick around here, either! Let’s go!”

Gumi, Lily, and kokone sprinted as fast as they could. Rocks, stalagmites, bats, and rats passed them while they ran, bent on trying to reach the exit wherever it may have been. After a while, the ISBs, Tei, and Maika faded into the far distance. The girls were not being chased, but they did not want to take any chances. 

After several minutes of nonstop running, each of the escapees dripping with sweat and panting heavily, a ray of hope made itself known. Across the ground, past the many rocks that made up the cave that imprisoned them, they saw a light. 

“Look, that must be the way out!” Gumi pointed toward the light and guided her pals to it.

With luck, Gumi’s guess was right on the ball. The big ray of sunlight came through a large opening in the cave, which led back into the forest outside. As they moved closer to it, Gumi, Lily, and kokone slowed down a bit, regaining their breath and recovering from the heavy exertion. 

The three survivors emerged from the caverns into the sunny Execrated Forest. The sunlight kissing the top of their heads was the greatest feeling they ever felt in the world. Nothing made them happier than seeing the blanket of greenery that covered the forest. They were alive. They made it out. 

“I should have known it would come down to the three of us.” Lily sighed and took a look at her best pals. The three of them were semi-safe, but they weren’t out of the woods yet (in quite a literal sense). 

“We better keep moving. Those demon things might follow us out here!” Gumi said after taking one last look into the cave. 

“You’re right. We better find help or something. Whatever’s going on in this forest is not good. Something evil lives here.” Lily turned to the small beaten path that stretched through the trees in front of her. “Where do you think this leads?”

“We can follow it and find out! Could be an adventure.”

“No, please. No more adventures, no more…” kokone sobbed. 

“Too bad. We have to find help, our friends, and a way out of this forest. Let’s go!” Lily declared, taking her place as leader once again.

Under their leader’s command, the three girls of the Internet household marched down the path to find wherever it led them. With adventure both ahead of them and behind them, they had much to look forward to. Their camping trip was far from over.


	8. Day 3 - The Girl?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After narrowly escaping the ISBs, the campers find a new place of residence with a strange surprise inside.

Three days into the camping trip, and Gumi, Lily, and kokone were both hungry and worn out. They hadn’t properly eaten for an entire day, and their survival instincts were constantly in high gear. They refused to eat any of the expired food from back in the cabin, and they didn’t trust the berries in the forest. Perhaps if Lily had done the most basic research before setting out into the forest for five days, she would have been able to recognize the fruits. 

Nobody knew the time, and Lily failed to read the sun’s place in the sky. From how hot and dry the day had become, you might not have known it stormed at all. It had to have been sometime in the afternoon, since there wasn’t a shred of darkness in the sky. 

Once they were sure the Indefinable Shadow Beasts were no longer following them, the trio stopped to sit down. They sat beneath a large tree that shaded them from the sun, giving them a much-needed coolness after hours of running. Oddly enough, they did not run into any woodland creatures on their trek. It didn't seem like the ISBs wanted anything to do with the animals. Such creatures did not need to consume other living beings, so nobody could say for certain what their motivation was. 

“Never thought I’d see a demon with my own eyes.” Lily drew a heavy breath and sat against the tree. 

“Me neither, and that might not be the last of ‘em!” Gumi added. 

kokone had not said a word for the past hour. Her friends figured her fear had taken all the words right out of her. In actuality, she had worn her voice out from screaming so much, and did not want to worsen the pain in her throat. 

“We’re gonna be okay,” Lily assured her friends. “We just gotta get some help. We’ll all be out of these crazy woods in no time!” 

Gumi and kokone wanted to believe their leader, they really did, but everything seemed so dire. Staying optimistic during such a time took a lot of effort they were not willing to give. There were only three of them, and they were unarmed and incapable of self-defense. If any creatures like the ISBs were to attack them again, they would not stand much of a chance. They needed to get out of the Execrated Forest and fast. 

By the time the girls stood up from where they sat, the daylight was already beginning to dim. “We need to find shelter before it gets dark out,” Lily told her crew of two. If fairytales and rumors were true, ghosts and demons were likely to be most active at night. Not to mention, they still had that wild cat to worry about.

“Do you think it was Ring that attacked us before?” asked Gumi on the subject of the wild cat.

“Not possible. She was bound to that cabin, remember?” Lily reasoned.

“Are you sure? Maybe she’s bound to the whole entire forest. Or worse… the whole entire country!”

kokone shivered at Gumi’s theory, but didn’t make anything more than a peep. The soreness in her throat did not allow her to say much more than that. 

Continuing down the beaten-up path that sat in the middle of the dirt, the travelers made their way to a clearing. The trees parted and the path guided them up a hill, where mountains and massive treetops could be seen in the distance. On top of the hill, something remarkable appeared. Gumi and Lily gasped in delight when they saw a tiny ranger cabin at the end of the path. 

“A ranger cabin! I didn’t know this forest had a ranger!” Gumi sped up to reach the front door. 

“I didn’t, either. I thought it was abandoned.” Lily was puzzled, but did not want to taint their newfound good luck. With kokone following behind her, she hurried to the door with Gumi.

The cabin was much smaller than the one in the woods, but much less haunted. The living room had an unfinished ceiling with the rafters still visible. A stone fireplace, a tiny bed, and a large trunk made up the inside of the house. A tiny white roomba rested on top of the trunk, but did not look recently used. Aside from a bathroom, the cabin only had one room. It wasn’t easy to get lost in there. 

“Nobody’s here…” Gumi said, hopelessly. 

“There must be a radio or something. A ranger would have to communicate with someone at a station somewhere.” Lily assumed, but did not entirely know how forest rangers worked. 

The three girls split off to search the room for some piece of technology. If they had a means of communicating with the outside world, someone could come and rescue them. The only other option was to run frantically through the forest and hope to find the exit before an ISB caught them. 

Not trusting the cabin to not be haunted, kokone stuck near the back of the room, wanting to stay close to the door in case she needed to make a run for it. Gumi checked the bathroom for much longer than she should have, and Lily went to analyze the trunk which the roomba sat on top of. 

“Maybe the radio’s in here?”

Wondering what could possibly be inside the trunk, Lily went to move the roomba from the top to look inside. She grasped it by the sides and lifted it up, and it turned out to be much lighter than she expected.

“Hey, don’t touch me! Let me go!” 

Lily shrieked and dropped the roomba back on top of the trunk. Did it just speak to her? It certainly sounded like a high-pitched feminine voice. It couldn’t have come from the roomba, it wasn’t possible. 

Even Gumi and kokone heard it, and from where they stood in the room, they watched Lily with widened eyes. Not one of them took a step forward or even slightly moved from where they stood. Lily remained hunched over in front of the circular vacuum cleaner. 

“That did not just happen. This roomba did not just speak to me.” Lily kept her gaze forward and announced her disbelief. 

“That’s where you’re wrong, pal! I totally did just speak to you! Mind where you put your hands next time, okay?” 

Lily staggered back, but caught herself just in time. Gumi, still in shock, paced over to where Lily stood to see if she, too, was hearing it right. kokone, on the other hand, only inched herself closer to the door. The brunette was ready to run as soon as she needed to. 

“Technology sure has gotten creepy.” Lily tried to find a plausible explanation for how this vacuum cleaner could be capable of speech and voice recognition. The world was changing, after all, and such a machine in the 21st century was not completely out of the question.

“I’m not technology, silly! I’m a girl!” 

Gumi and Lily looked at each other in fright and bewilderment, then they looked back at the roomba. They had to admit, this wasn’t the strangest thing they had seen in the forest. A talking machine was not too absurd as far as they were concerned.

“Wh-what’s your name?” Lily asked, unsure of why that was the first thought that came to mind.

“I’m Cocorobo! At least, that’s what my logo says! I was just Coco, but then I went and got myself turned into a vacuum cleaner! Pretty wild, huh?” 

Lily could not form the words to express her amazement. Wild cats, vengeful spirits, killer shadows, now talking cleaning equipment? What next? 

“Who are you, anyway? Maybe we can help each other out!” the roomba offered.

Unsure of whether or not to give the machine their personal information, Lily looked to Gumi for guidance. Gumi did not seem to mind, so the blonde told her everything.

“We were just going on a camping trip, then everything went pear-shaped. Our friends are missing and those demon things are after us!” 

“We also got trapped in a haunted cabin by some girl named Ring. She looked like Miku!” Gumi added.

“Demon things? You mean the ISBs?” asked Cocorobo.

“The what now?”

“Indefinable Shadow Beasts. They’re a lot like me, and Ring, too. Cursed prisoners of the forest who disgraced the gods that made it. It’s a long and involved story, so lemme give you the reader’s digest version. This forest has a curse on it, which I assume you knew but you were too eager to test it out for yourselves and ended up trapped in here. The reason it's cursed is because it holds the sacred Fountain of Diolacov!” 

“Excuse me, could you run that by me again?”

“The Fountain of Diolacov is a majestic fountain that the Vocaloid gods created as a means of curing all ailments. It lies in the heart of the forest, and if you take a swim in it, you’ll be cured of any sickness or pain!” 

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re a vacuum cleaner.” 

“Curiosity got the best of me, I’m afraid. I went out searching for the fountain, and the ISBs got me. Like that Ring girl you mentioned, they imprisoned me here. They trapped me inside this stupid roomba and I’ve been here ever since! If you can bring me to the fountain, I might be able to become a human again!” 

All this information was too much for kokone. She stepped closer and closer to the door, keeping her back pressed against the wooden wall. She was about to leave and forget all she had seen, but then something clicked. Literally. 

The ground opened up beneath kokone, revealing a small trapdoor she had activated. As she lost her footing and fell into the trap, she tried to scream, but her hoarse voice wouldn’t allow it. Lily and Gumi did not notice their friend fall into the pit, wherever it led. As soon as kokone was gone, the trapdoor closed behind her, as if it never opened in the first place. 

“What do you say? Will you help me? I’ve been stuck like this for so long! I miss being able to eat things besides dust!” Cocorobo pleaded. 

Gumi and Lily looked to each other for their opinion. “What do you think?” Lily asked her green-haired best friend. 

“Can we trust you?” Gumi leered at the roomba, getting uncomfortably close to her.

“Of course you can! What’s the worst I can do? Suck you up? I’m a freaking electric dustpan for crying out loud!” 

“Let’s help her out,” Lily finally said. “Think of it. This fountain sounds like the stuff of legends! Wouldn’t it be great to see it with our own eyes?” 

Lily’s ambitious nature shined through once again. She did want to help Cocorobo, but she also wanted to see this Fountain of Diolacov for herself. To bear witness to a sacred gift with extraordinary power was a once in a lifetime opportunity. On top of it, she got to help someone in need, so that was a nice bonus.

“You’re right. She doesn’t seeeem evil.” Gumi stood up straight.

“I assure you, I am not. I really just want to be a human again.” Cocorobo sighed.

“That settles it. Escaping the forest can wait. For now, we have a fountain to find. You hear that, kokonut?” Lily turned to see if kokone had been paying attention, but did not see anyone behind her. “kokone?”

Gumi and Lily looked around, trying to figure out where their campmate had gone. The cabin only had one room and a bathroom, so she couldn’t have gone far. Gumi checked the bathroom, but no kokone.

“She probably ran off. What a coward.” Lily grumbled. It wasn’t uncharacteristic of kokone to run at the sight of something frightening, and seeing something as unsettling as a talking roomba probably startled her. Without her, Gumi and Lily were on their own. 

“What now?” asked Gumi after looking out the nearest window to see if kokone was outside. 

“We have another lost friend to find. Maybe Cocorobo can help us when she gets back in her human body,” Lily thought out loud. “Coco, do you have a problem with me carrying you?” 

“Not at all! I only freaked out before because you caught me by surprise. I was sleeping!” 

Of course, it was impossible to tell when an object without a face was sleeping or not.

Outside, the sun was beginning to go down. The cold blue hue fell over the land, and it would be dark soon. Gumi rushed over to the window when she saw something out the corner of her eye. Lily did not seem interested at first, but she turned when she saw a look of worry in her best friend’s face.

“What’s wrong, Gumgum?” 

“Come look.”

Lily maneuvered over to the window and stood beside Gumi, looking out at the landscape. From the direction they came from, a few orbs of blackness were floating in from within the trees. They had bright red eyes and their forms shifted whenever they moved. They were the Indefinable Shadow Beasts.

“C-Coco… we got a bit of a problem here.” 

Lily turned back to Cocorobo, but Gumi kept watching as the ISBs moved closer to the tent. There were at least twenty of them, but she didn’t bother counting. She knew there were a lot, and that was a lot more than she was willing to deal with.

“You wouldn’t happen to know how to deal with those Indefinable Shadow Beasts, would you?” Gumi asked their mechanical friend. 

“Oh shoot.” 

Having sensed the movements of living creatures, the ISBs moved closer and closer to the ranger cabin. They knew Gumi and Lily were inside, and they were not about to let them escape. These lost souls knew nothing more than to bring other living souls down with them. They would not let their targets escape from the Execrated Forest. 

“Is there anything, ANYTHING AT ALL, you can tell us about these creatures that might make them more… beatable?” Lily asked Cocorobo in a panic.

“Well, they’re kinda stupid and animalistic. If one of you distracts them, they’ll probably go after that one person. That’s too dangerous, though.”

Gumi sighed and banged her fist against the window. She looked down somberly at the floor, then returned to looking at the beasts that roamed about outside. They were waiting for the girls to come out. They were hunting them, and they had their prey cornered. 

“Lily,” Gumi knew what needed to be done. “I’m going out to distract them. You take Cocorobo and escape.” 

“What? Gumi, no!”

Lily ran over to her friend and took her by the arms, flipping her around to face her.

“You can’t do that! Let me go out and distract them, I--”

Gumi pushed her finger against Lily’s lip, quieting her down. 

“I said what I said, buddy. I’m going to distract them, and that’s final. You’ve been our leader since the beginning, so I’m trusting you to get Cocorobo to safety. Not to mention, I trust myself to survive much more than I trust you on your own.”

Lily wanted to laugh at this subtle shade, but she was too moved by Gumi’s suggestion of self-sacrifice to. Tears were starting to come down from her eyes, and she threw her arms around Gumi and wrapped her in a big hug. With tears in her own eyes, Gumi returned the hug and held Lily tight.

“Gumi, I… I…” Lily tried to speak, but could not form the words. Her best friend was about to throw herself into immediate danger for her to get away. She did not want to let this happen, but there was no other way.

“You love me?” Gumi jokingly finished Lily’s sentence. “I love you too, pal. That’s why I’m doing this.”

“Y-yeah. That’s what I meant, I think.”

When Gumi and Lily pulled apart from their hug, Gumi looked over to the front door and chuckled. 

“I’ll be back. Don’t worry, it takes a lot more than a couple shadows to get rid of me.”

Bidding Lily farewell, Gumi strutted over to the door, with confidence in her every step. She slowly dragged it open and prepared to step outside. 

“See you around, bestie.” Gumi gave a dramatic bow before heading outside and shutting the door behind her. As soon as she walked into the evening air, she threw her arms above her and brought the attention to herself. “Hey, you ugly monster things! Over here! Come and get me!”

“Gumi, you marvelous buffoon…” Lily snickered from inside the cabin, wiping the tears from her eyes and watching Gumi from the window.

“Come and get me! Come on! My legs are faster than your… air. Come on!”

Gumi took off running into the forest, and the ISBs followed behind her. Every one of them now had their target locked. They wanted to catch Gumi. They wanted to make her one of them. 

While Gumi led the Indefinable Shadow Beasts away, Lily rushed over to the trunk and lifted Cocorobo. The monsters were distracted, and if she didn’t take this chance to get away, Gumi’s heroic sacrifice would have been for nothing.

“I hope I can run fast enough. If they see me, they might stop chasing Gumi to come after us.” Lily said to Cocorobo as she carried her to the front door.

“How much do you weigh?” asked Cocorobo without any warning.

Lily was appalled. How could her new friend ask such a question, especially out of the blue like that?

“What kind of question is that?”

“You look skinny. I might be able to carry you, actually!” Cocorobo said as Lily brought her outside and started in the opposite direction of which Gumi ran. 

“What do you mean?”

“Quickly, before any of them come back. Climb on top of me!”

“Excuse me, what?”

“Climb on top of me, I promise! I’m certain I can handle your weight!”

“You are out of your mind. You are absolutely out of your mind.” Lily said aloud, but did exactly as the roomba instructed.

Lily set Cocorobo down on the grassy path, then, trying to hold her body up, stepped onto Cocorobo and held onto the sides of her.

“Hang on tight. This is gonna be a ride to remember.”

“What?!”

Anticipating what would happen next, Lily clung onto the underside of Cocorobo, gripping the bottom of the roomba as tightly as possible. With whatever force Coco was capable of giving, she tried her best to hang onto Lily. Once the preparations were cleared, she took off.

Giving a burst of energy, Cocorobo turned herself on and kicked it into high gear. She launched herself across the forest, with Lily on top of her, and flew away from the cabin at full speed. Lily screamed as the sudden flight through the air took her by surprise. She didn’t expect this to actually work.

“Don’t worry, I got you! Just hang on and enjoy the ride!” Cocorobo called up to Lily, keeping a straight flight pattern through the trees. She zipped through the forest at full speed, leaving the ISBs in the dust. Her destination: the Fountain of Diolacov.


	9. Day 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily and Cocorobo seek out the sacred Fountain of Diolacov.

Four days in, and Lily was not where she wanted to be at all. Restless, hungry, and alone. With only a talking roomba to keep her company, she felt more lonely than she ever felt in her life. She just wanted her friends to be okay. Not knowing where they were or what happened to them weighed heavy on her, not to mention how many of their disappearances she blamed herself for. They didn’t deserve to be lost in a cursed forest with monstrous demons everywhere. 

“Hey, are you okay, Lily? You look troubled.” asked Cocorobo. The two of them managed to find a small cave to hole up in for the night, one without any bears or ISBs in it. The roomba rested next to Lily’s head while she slept on the cold ground without a blanket or a pillow. She even thought she saw a tear run down the blonde’s cheek. 

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” 

Lily just barely noticed the sunlight peering through the cave, showing that morning had come. She really wanted to be back home for a number of reasons, but one of the biggest ones was so she could finally sleep in a bed again. The rocky ground did not make for a good mattress. 

Since she stayed awake for most of the night, Lily and Cocorobo did a bit of talking, mostly about the presumed location of the Fountain of Diolacov. Lily wondered if such a thing even existed, but the ISBs clearly had something to do with it. She recalled their overnight exchange:

“Why don’t they just go into the fountain? Wouldn’t that heal them?”

“For them, it’s not that easy. The shadow beasts that chased you were cursed long ago. They are remnants of the old days, literal shadows of the past. Like the fountain, they are part of the forest and can’t be detached from it. Since I’m just a prisoner here, I’m hoping the fountain will work on me. If not…” Cocorobo stopped speaking. Lily sat up and listened to what her friend was about to say. “Please make good use of me. I’m really good at cleaning.” 

Lily rolled her eyes. “Coco, you’re not gonna be a roomba forever. I’ll get you back in your human body in no time. Okay?”

“You’re so kind, Lily. It makes me so happy to know you want to help me so much. If you can find a way to make me human again, I’ll be forever in your debt.” 

Lily mulled over this conversation for hours. She wasn’t so sure she wanted Cocorobo to feel indebted to her, especially since she didn’t even know if they’d find the fountain. She couldn’t promise Cocorobo she’d be human again, but she sure as heck tried. How could she, a lowly musician, stop such a great curse?

“We should probably get going. It’ll take a few hours to find the fountain. I hope you got lotsa rest!” Cocorobo told her human partner.

Lily lifted her heavy body from the ground and stretched her arms out. She ached all over, and she really did not want to embark on a grand quest right away. Unfortunately, Coco was right. If they had a few hours of walking ahead of them, they needed to go straight away.

Lily lifted Cocorobo in her arms and carried her out of the cave, walking back into the forest and hiking down the nonexistent path. She followed Cocorobo’s directions, but even the vacuum cleaner was unsure if they were reliable or not. If things got hairy, Lily would be able to climb on Coco’s back and fly through the forest like they did before. She did not want it to come to that, since she still wasn’t used to being launched at such speeds.

As Cocorobo predicted, the walk through the forest took hours. She and Lily made idle conversation, discussing things such as their favorite animals, memories, friends back home, and then some.

“Your friends sound really nice! I can’t wait to meet this CUL person. Una, too! Gakupo seems a little scary, though.”

“He’s not so bad once you get to know him,” Lily laughed. “What about you? Do you have anyone to go back to?”

“No,” Cocorobo sighed. “I never had too many friends. I’m not… good at talking to people. I kinda got kicked out of my home at a young age, so I’ve been struggling to get by. I guess that motivated me to seek adventure. I didn’t have anything to lose! I guess I do now, though.”

“Why is that?” 

“Because now, I have a friend.” 

Lily blushed, surprised by such flattery. They hadn’t known each other for long, but Cocorobo already trusted her enough to call her a friend. It felt good to hear that, it was exactly the motivation Lily needed at that point in time.

“I’m happy you think that way. Maybe when we get out of here, I can help you get back on your feet. I know you’ve been missing for a while, so it’ll be hard for you to get back into society on your own. I’ll try to help in any way I can.”

“Really?!” Cocorobo’s enthusiasm showed. “You’re the best, Lily! Thank you so so so much!” 

It felt good to make someone else feel so happy. Lily did not know how she would help Cocorobo, but she swore to stay true to her word. Suddenly, Lily didn’t feel so lonely anymore. She had a friend right there with her. 

After some mindless chit chat that lasted for hours, the singer and her roomba finally reached a stretch of land that seemed manmade. Large hedges that stood in perfect square shapes led into a grassy field, where there seemed to be much less dirt and filth. 

“This way, we’re almost there!” Cocorobo encouraged Lily to keep going.

The further they walked through the hedges, the more remarkable things the duo saw. Rows of perfectly-maintained flowers lined both sides of the walkway, and at the furthest end, a great fountain of clear water poured into a large pool. No insects flew there, no animals bothered it, and not a single plant wilted. Wherever they were, it was undoubtedly magical. 

“It’s so beautiful.” Lily admired the fountain from afar, but Cocorobo invited her to move closer. 

The pair stood in front of the great fountain, gazing into their reflections and watching the endless stream of water pour into place. The sight of such a wonder was breathtaking. Absolutely the work of the gods. 

“Well, go on, then. Put me in!”

Lily looked down at Cocorobo with astonishment. 

“Are you sure about this? You’re electric, and this is water! This might…”

“I’m confident it won’t!” Coco didn’t let Lily finish. “The fountain is meant to heal, it’s not possible for anyone to die in it. Trust me, I’ll be fine!”

Taking this in, Lily gulped and nodded her head. She did not support combining electrical objects with water under any circumstances, but this fountain was supposed to be a healer. If it could heal “any ailment,” would Coco’s condition count as one? Cocorobo seemed quite convinced, and Lily did not want to let her down. Especially not after promising to help her out.

“Okay, here goes…”

Taking a big step back, Lily stretched out both of her arms with Cocorobo in her hands. With a great heave, Lily tossed the roomba into the Fountain of Diolacov. After giving a little “Wee!”, Cocorobo made a splash and disappeared under the surface. Lily shielded herself from the water that splashed ashore, but kept her eyes peeled for what would happen next.

In the next instant, a bright light emitted from underneath the water. Lily stepped back and watched as the blinding force in front of her gave way for a rising silhouette. The shape of a girl appeared and slowly gained color as the light faded. Her hair was pink and twirly, with a cowlick and small twirls on both sides of it. Her eyes were greenish blue, her cheeks were red and rosy, and she was quite adorable.

“Coco?” even without having seen the girl before, Lily knew who it was. The fountain had worked exactly as they planned, and Cocorobo successfully returned to being a human.

“Lily! Oh my gosh!”

Having regained her human body, the first thing Cocorobo did was leap out of the fountain and embrace Lily, bringing her to the ground in the biggest hug she could possibly give.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” 

Lily giggled as Cocorobo squished the heck out of her. It felt good to do a good thing. Once they finished hugging each other to death, the two stood up. Cocorobo shook herself out, still being drenched from swimming in the fountain. Lily was also wet, thanks to her. She didn’t complain about it, though. 

“It feels so good to be me again!” Cocorobo twiddled her fingers and walked in small circles, regaining a sense of balance in her legs. She almost forgot what it felt like to be human, so being able to move in such a way again meant everything to her. “I owe you so so so much, Lily! I’ll never be able to thank you enough!” 

“Don’t mention it. I’m sure you would have done the same for me.”

Once Cocorobo finished basking in the delight of having her body back, she and her partner decided it was time to leave. They still had work that needed to be done.

“Wait. Did you hear that?”

Before the fountain’s visitors could leave, a loud rustling sound erupted from the trees. Lily and Cocorobo backed into each other, watching all angles from where they stood. Someone was coming. Or maybe something. Lily hoped it would be one of her friends, or all of them, preferably, but would she be so lucky? 

As soon as Lily heard a very specific sound, she knew who was approaching. Without any doubt in her mind, she recognized that exact word.

“Meow.”

The first thing to enter through the hedges was the shadow of a wild cat. The very same wild cat that attacked Lily’s camp on the first night. The same wild cat that caught her in the rope trap and terrorized the campers for most of their stay. The real kicker? It wasn’t a cat at all. As it came closer, it turned out to be a person. A person Lily knew.

“Iroha?!” 

Crawling on all fours and rising to her feet to stand before the campers, Nekomura Iroha of the AHS household presented herself. On her hands and feet, she wore gloves and shoes that resembled cat paws. That explained how she managed to leave behind such imprints. But, what was she doing out here, and what was her motivation?

“You… you were the wild cat this whole time!” Lily concluded.

“Lily, who is this?” Coco asked in a hushed voice.

“Nekomura Iroha. She’s a singer just like me, but she’s been attacking me and my friends ever since we came out here!” Lily answered, then addressed the cat. “What’s wrong? You were always so kind to me before! We even did that Hello Kitty collab together!” 

“Hehehehehehehehehe…” Iroha responded with a conniving cackle. “HeheheheAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!” 

Once she finished with her obligatory evil laugh, Iroha explained herself.

“Oh, Lily. You were always the silliest of the Vocaloid singers. You should have known better than to come out here. This forest is no place for girls like you.” 

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain anything! What’s gotten into you? Do you know where my friends are?” 

“Hehehehehehe… Sorry, Lily. I can’t let you or your pink vacuum cleaner leave. You two will be coming with me now.” 

Lily and Cocorobo weren’t sure if they were hearing this right. Was Iroha threatening to take them away somewhere? This wasn’t right. Iroha wasn’t supposed to be like this. Something was terribly wrong.

“We’re not going anywhere with you! What makes you think you can talk to us like that?!” Lily shouted in her growing anger. 

“Oh, I don’t know…” Iroha rubbed her fake paws together. “If you won’t listen to me, maybe my friends can be a little more convincing.”

“Friends?” 

A high-pitched roar from the distance indicated what Iroha referred to. Lily and Cocorobo backed closer to each other and watched as numerous Indefinable Shadow Beasts flew in from all sides. There were too many to count, and all of them were angry. Along with them, a certain twin-tailed spirit flew in, giggling to herself in a similar manner to Iroha. 

“Ring? I guess she wasn’t bound to the cabin.” Lily murmured. 

Soon enough, Lily and Coco were surrounded. They had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. On all sides, they were met with ISBs, Iroha, or Ring. They couldn’t hope to escape if they tried.

“What do you say, Lily? Will you surrender, or face the wrath of the Indefinable Shadow Beasts?” Iroha laid out the options. 

“And me!” Ring included herself. 

Given the circumstances, Lily’s answer was decided for her. She and her partner could not fend for themselves against the vicious spirits. They needed to give in.

“Fine. We surrender.” Lily hung her head in defeat.

A despicable smile curled up on Iroha’s face, and she slowly sauntered over to where her newest catches stood. This little game of hers was nearing its end, and she would be the winner. 

“You made the right decision.”


	10. Day ?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily learns about everything that's been going on, but is it too late for her and her friends?

Lily had no way of knowing how much time passed since Iroha captured her and Cocorobo. When they were seized and taken from the fountain, they had nothing but unanswered questions. They could not fathom how someone like Iroha could go rogue, or why the Indefinable Shadow Beasts weren’t attacking her. Ring was also getting on the duo’s nerves, as she would not stop tormenting them as they marched through the woods under restraint. 

Where were they going? Iroha had a sense of where she wanted to take them, but how was that possible? She didn’t live in the Execrated Forest, as far as the captives knew. The red-haired girl in the red dress hunched over and crawled on all fours, sniffing out every area before making sure they could walk there. She described this as her way of finding her path. She had a destination in mind, and Lily and Cocorobo were about to be her involuntary guests of honor. 

At first, they were taken to a cell without any windows, and time moved pretty slowly while they were in there. They couldn’t tell if it had been a day or several. They spent a lot of time sleeping on a dirty old cot that threatened to collapse every time they laid on it. Perhaps they slept for weeks, for all they knew. Apart from the cot, the cell was barren. Cocorobo also killed time by eating dust that gathered on the floor.

“Sorry, force of habit.” she would giggle. 

Lily’s last memory involved Iroha coming into the cell with a few ISBs behind her, talking to someone and saying “I’ve searched the whole forest, and I’m pretty sure that’s all of them! Looks like it’s time.” Lily didn’t get to see much before Iroha threw a bag over her head and escorted her out of the cell. Wherever she led her, the cat did not want her prisoners seeing the path they took. 

For however long the venture took, Lily did not see a thing the whole time. She did not understand what was going on, she just felt herself being pushed up against something really cold. She was confused and unable to foresee the coming events.

There was a moment of silence with a lack of clarity, but then Lily heard something. She did not see it, but she surely heard it. 

“Meiko, could you scooch over a bit?”

“Rin, I literally can’t.” 

The sound of familiar voices brought hope to Lily in such a dark time. Dark in more ways than one. On top of being unable to see, she couldn’t move, either. She felt as if her body were being held down, but she still stood upright against the icy, hard surface. 

Iroha pulled the sack from Lily’s head and stomped away from her, finally letting the blonde see where she was. 

“Lily! About time she took that bag off your head. Not sure why she kept it on for so long.” Cocorobo cheerily greeted her friend from right beside her. While the blonde was happy to see her pink-haired mate was okay, she was standing a little too close for comfort. 

“It’s good to see you again, Coco,” Lily regained her breath after having it suppressed for who knew how long. “But, do you have to stand so close? Give me some space, pal.” 

“I can’t help it! I can’t move!”

“You might wanna take a look at yourself, Lily ol’ buddy!” Gumi popped in from the other side of Cocorobo. “We’re in a bit of a sticky situation here!” 

Upon looking down, Lily gave a tremendous groan when she saw that she and Cocorobo had been tied to a massive pillar together. “Are you kidding me?!” she growled. 

Thankfully, all of her friends were still alive, as they were all in the same room as her. At the far end, Rin, Meiko, Yanhe, Merli, and Xin Hua were stuck together, and beside them, so were Gumi, Yuki, and kokone. On Lily’s other side, Tei and Maika were also bound together. 

“Hey, Lily. Told ya we’d meet again.” Tei chuckled, only for Maika to nudge her aggressively. 

The room stretched out to the size of a gymnasium, and the structure was made entirely of stone. The walls were covered in moss and parts of the floor were littered with rocks, sticks, and broken pieces of wood from crates or other similar objects. Only a few high-up windows allowed sunlight to shine in on the dark little dungeon. These had to be some kind of ancient ruins. 

“Merli!” Lily called over. “Can’t you get us out of this? You have magic and all.”

Yanhe groaned. “We’ve asked her already. Turns out she can’t use magic if her hands are tied.”

“Why do you think I wave my hands whenever I do something magical?” Merli barked. “You think I just do it for show? Like some fairy-freaking-godmother?” 

“You know, I’m beginning to think fairies are pretty useless!” Meiko called back. 

“Come over here and say that to my face! I dare you!” 

“What are you gonna do? Wiggle at me?” 

“C-can we please not fight each other? We’re all trapped here together, after all...” kokone begged. It sounded like her voice had gotten better since Lily last heard her.

“What do you want with us?!” Lily finally addressed Iroha, who stood smirking in front of her and the former vacuum cleaner. 

At all corners of the room, several ISBs watched intently. They appeared to follow Iroha’s command, and she ordered them to stand down for the time being. Ring was also in the room, but she didn’t say much. She just leaned against the wall, occasionally slipping through it, and watched Iroha pace back and forth while the hostages bickered.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Iroha chortled and continued her pacing.

“Was it something I said? Is all this because of the time I sang off-key at our one performance together? I’m really sorry about that, I wasn’t feeling myself that--”

“Shut up!” Iroha detracted three sharp claws from the mock paw on her hand. This made Lily scoot back a bit, but she couldn’t move very far with her back pressed against the large pillar. 

After making sure she had everything in check, Iroha ultimately decided it was time to let everyone in on what was going on. Lily and the others had too many questions that needed answering. Why were the ISBs obeying Iroha? Why was Iroha doing this to them? What was about to happen to them? Where even where they?

“Right now, you are in the great fortress that was built long ago to house the people who sought the Fountain of Diolacov. As you know, the gods cursed them to become the Indefinable Shadow Beasts. They would never have access to the fountain for the rest of eternity. That’s basic history, which I assume you know already.”

Iroha expected too much from her prisoners. None of them, apart from Yuki, actually did any research before going out there. If they did, they might have known the legends of the ISBs beforehand. There was no telling if they would have actually believed them, but they couldn’t deny the legends after all they went through. 

“The ISBs are smarter than you think,” Iroha went on. “Nowadays, anyone taken by the forest’s curse becomes a shadow of who they once were. Take Ring, for example. Or even your little friend there. The one you so heroically saved.” 

“Hey, that’s me!” Cocorobo giggled, but received a glare from Lily.

“What will happen to you? Well, that’s up to us to find out, isn’t it?” Iroha snickered. “The ISBs were cursed in these very ruins so long ago. They always bring their victims here to turn them into creatures just like them. Only one problem… none of them can speak, and the words to curse someone need to be read out loud. That’s what they need me for!”

Everyone gasped. Iroha turned to a large wall behind her, where a small engraving could be seen. The words were ancient and almost unreadable, but Iroha knew what they meant.

“Anyway, that’s enough for now. Any other questions before I read this wall and curse you for the rest of eternity?” 

“Ooh, me! Pick me! Ugh!” Rin tried to raise her hand, but obviously couldn't with the rope holding it down.

“What is it, yellow one?”

“Me?”

“Not you, Lily! Rin!” 

“Why didn’t you curse Meiko, Yanhe, Xin Hua, Merli, and me when you caught us in the first place?” 

Iroha paused. Everyone stared blankly at her, awaiting her response. She nervously rubbed the back of her neck, then looked over to Ring, who simply shrugged her shoulders.

“W-well, I was out hunting the others!” Iroha defended herself. “I don’t have time to come this deep into the forest when I’m supposed to be following the rest of you! I… get lost sometimes. Don’t judge me.”

“Lost?” Yuki asked. A revelation hit her at that very instant. It all suddenly made sense. “You don’t know this forest too well, do you?”

“Shut up, kid! Of course I do! This forest is my home!”

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

“Shut up!”

“The shadow beasts took you and Ring turned you into one of them, so you could hunt people who came into the forest while she stayed in the cabin!”

“SHUT. UP.” 

Ring tugged at her collar and shot a nervous glance over to Iroha, as if to say “They’re onto us.” Iroha growled and stomped her foot, then turned back to the writing on the wall.

“No more questions! You’re all going to be ISBs! ALL OF YOU! That is FINAL!” 

Now that the time for being silly drew to a close, the girls realized the severity of their situation. Iroha started to read the words on the wall, and all of them were overcome with fright. If they didn’t get out of there in the next minute or so, however long it took for Iroha to read, they would never get to leave the forest.

“I don’t wanna be a vacuum cleaner!” kokone cried. 

“Please be a slow reader, please be a slow reader…” Yanhe murmured, quietly. 

The twelve campers tried to break out of the ropes that held each of them, but none had any luck. Iroha started speaking the chant in its initial language, but stopped after the first word.

“Machigaete…? Mach… Uh, Ring, can I get some help over here? I can’t pronounce this word.” 

Even the prisoners rolled their eyes as Ring had to move over to help Iroha read the inscription out loud. 

“It’s my first time, okay? Give me a break!”

The struggling continued once Iroha started reading again. While many of the girls just mindlessly wiggled, Tei ferociously shook her arms behind her back. Maika noticed this weird maneuver, and questioned Tei on it.

“What are you doing?”

“I... keep my knife in a… pouch… in my sleeve… if I can just… get it…”

Like many singers in Vocaloid, Tei wore long arm warmers that were separate from her shirt. Inside one of the sleeves, Tei kept her knife handy, conveniently tucked away so it would not make contact with her hand. She had not gotten to use the knife since being taken away, and there was no better time to use it than right then.

Meanwhile, Iroha made little progress with the enchantment, since she had to have Ring help her with almost every other word.

“Okay, start from the beginning. It won’t work unless it’s said absolutely perfectly!” Ring instructed Iroha. Some of the prisoners were wondering why Ring wasn’t the one reading, but Iroha probably beat her in a bet or something like that. At least the less competent one was the one in charge.

“I think I got it… Hold on, Maika…” Tei finally managed to retrieve her knife from its pouch. Taking it in her hand, she began to cut through the ropes. Maika clenched her teeth and watched nervously while Tei cut herself out.

“Tsuki no akari ga…”

“Wrong, wrong, wrong! You know what? Get outta the way, let me read it!” 

With a heavy shove, Ring forced Iroha out of her way and hovered in front of the sacred words. “Ahem.” she cleared her throat a few times before preparing to speak out loud. With ease, she started on the first sentence.

“Mach--”

“Hey, you stupid spirit girl!”

Hearing Tei shout at her from behind, Ring angrily turned around to see what the intrusive prisoner wanted.

“What is it? I’m very busy… here…”

Ring expected a lot to happen that day. She had pretty good intuition, but one thing she did not expect to happen that day at all, was for her to turn around and see her arch-nemesis Sukone Tei standing there with a large knife in hand. 

“G-GET HER!” Ring shouted, commanding the ISBs to attack. 

“Quick, Maika. You know what to do.” Tei said to her partner in crime, who had also been freed from the ropes. Maika nodded and ran over to where Gumi, Yuki, and kokone stood. Tei moved over to Lily and Cocorobo, then proceeded to cut through their ropes with the knife. 

While Maika and Tei freed their friends, the Indefinable Shadow Beasts moved ever closer to them. Once Lily and Cocorobo were out of their bonds, Tei gave them some advice.

“Back in the cave, Maika and I found out these things are actually kinda weak! Hit them with anything you got! They’ll back down for at least a few seconds!”

With that, Tei lunged for the nearest beast with the knife. Maika released Gumi, Yuki, and kokone from their ropes, and the three of them went to help the large group from Meiko’s campsite. 

“Coco, please tell me you still have some of your roomba powers.” Lily said in urgency. 

“I don’t know! Let me see if I can still launch myself in this body.” Cocorobo strained to lift herself off the ground, but to no avail. The ISBs moved closer and closer to them, and Coco was taking too much time to see if her powers still worked. 

“We are so done. We are so done for.” Lily tried to back away from the impending monsters, but only backed into the pillar that previously held her. Before the shadows could make contact, however, a large beam of energy struck them and sent them tumbling out of the way. “What the--”

At the other end of the room, Merli stood with her hand outstretched, having fired the beam of light that overtook the monsters. She and her friends had all been freed, and they were ready to take their revenge.

“Let me show you how useful fairies truly are!” Merli declared, gathering more power for another blow.

Over at the stone inscription, Ring failed to notice Iroha slipping out of the dungeon. She simply grumbled and returned to facing the words on the wall. 

“I don’t care if you’re all fighting each other! I’m gonna read this, anyway! AH!”

Ring did not have time to read the words, since Merli shot a beam of energy right towards her and forced her to duck. The beam struck the words, themselves, covering them in ash and permanently damaging some of them.

“NO! No, no, no! You imbecile!” Ring flipped around in fury and levitated herself upwards, ready to fight Merli to the death. 

Meanwhile, Maika demonstrated how to fight the ISBs by kicking them from a distance. Gumi took up this strategy and made a fun little game out of it. Cocorobo once again tried to launch herself, and only managed to hover a bit off the ground into an ISB, which she took the opportunity to uppercut. As each of the beasts took damage, they gave their ear-piercing screeches that distracted many of the fighters.

Merli and Ring chased each other around the room, with Merli constantly fending the spirit off with beams of energy and bursts of fire. She almost didn’t notice the ISB creeping up behind her, and right as it was about to strike, the monster received a kick and fled. Merli looked over her shoulder just long enough to see who had saved her from the flank attack: Xin Hua. 

“I still got your back!” the young girl in the pink hat smiled. Merli smiled back, then returned to battling Ring.

kokone cowered in the corner while the others fought. Yuki attempted to join them, but Meiko pulled her out of the line of fire. The former camp leader then stood beside Yanhe, and the two nodded to one another.

“Ready, partner?” asked Yanhe.

“You bet.”

Using their fists and feet, Meiko and Yanhe proceeded to punch and kick every beast that came near them. The villains were slowly beginning to see that without their words of power and territorial advantages, the campers were formidable threats. Iroha and Ring made the mistake of reuniting them. 

“If we never split up in the first place, maybe none of this would have ever happened!” Lily thought as she watched the fighters from afar. Their desire for division and disagreements led to their downfall. Maybe they could have caught Iroha from the beginning if they had only worked together. As a team, they were strong, even without Lily as the core leader. Perhaps they didn’t need a single leader at all.

While Lily thought these things over, a shadow beast made for her, and she scrambled to grab a large stick from a pile of wood to defend herself with. She poked it at the creature, causing it to shriek in its painful voice, and she took that moment to dive away from it. 

As she hit the ground, Lily looked up to see Iroha scampering into the hallway leading out of the dungeon. The wild cat had stuck around just to see if her side would win, but decided to bail when things grew unpredictable. As everyone else was distracted with their own private battles, Lily took it upon herself to go after her former friend. She didn’t know if she could save Iroha, but she at least wanted to face her for herself.

With her really sharp stick in hand, Lily bolted after Iroha, losing sight of her but keeping on her trail. She ran into the hallway, but a few shadow demons noticed her leaving. When they made for her, someone tossed a rock at one of their frontrunners, causing all of them to lose focus. 

Lily stopped for a second to see who threw the rock, and saw kokone standing in the corner with several more stones in hand. 

“C-come over here! I-I’m not afraid of you! I won’t let you hurt my friend!” 

Taking the distraction, the angry ISBs turned away from Lily and made their way over to kokone. She defended herself by throwing rocks, and eventually, Rin joined in.

“Good thing we played that game of Rock Ball before. Let me show you how it’s really done!” Rin proceeded to pelt the ISBs from the other side of the room, splitting them up between kokone and the younger blonde. 

“Go, Lily! I can distract them! Catch Iroha!” kokone called to her friend, still tossing rocks from the pile beside her.

“Thanks, kokonut.” Lily beamed, then immediately turned around and sped off after the escaping feline. 

The halls were crumbling, by the looks of it. The years were not kind to them. Lily did not know how old the ruins were, but they definitely showed their age. Parts of the ceiling were broken off, which provided sunlight to guide her path. This was convenient, since the place did not have any light source apart from it. Lily continued on the path, keeping her weapon of choice in front of her, but she eventually faced a conundrum. 

Three paths. Which one did Iroha go down? Lily snarled and punched the wall, hurting her fist on the stone. “Ow!” she grunted. She hated the irony. She did not know how she was supposed to decipher which way Iroha went, but she did see a room with an open door on the wall of the left side path. Curiously, she went to check it out.

“Iroha? You in here?” Lily called, not expecting a response at all.

As it turned out, she did not get a response, since the room was too small for anyone to hide in. However, something about it was seriously off. It did not look to be part of ancient ruins at all. It had a little window that sat above a wooden desk with a chair in front of it. Gallons of water and cans of cat food were all over the place, both on shelves and on the floor. Coolers, candles, grocery bags, and other things made up the contents of the room. A single tiny mattress also sat in the corner, which someone likely slept on.

“This must be where Iroha lives. Looks like she fixed the place up.” 

Without the cat in sight, Lily assumed the next best thing would be for her to find anything of use to her in the room. She did not need several cans of cat food, neither did she want to imagine Iroha actually eating the stuff. Once she approached the table, she found something she could actually use. A cellphone.

The cellphone was an older model, and it probably belonged to Iroha before the ISBs cursed her. She likely kept it off of her person to maneuver more freely through the woods. Not to mention, the more animalistic personality she took on would not have much use for technology. 

Lily turned the phone on, and thankfully, it had some charge. Those older models were truly remarkable. She had the perfect chance to make a phone call to someone nearby, but did not know who to call. The police? Lily did not like dealing with them (especially with her slight criminal record, which is a story for another day). “They’d probably just leave us out here,” Lily reasoned. “But who’s more reliable than the police?”

Lily thought it over, then came to the perfect conclusion.

“Una!” 

Lily recalled that before she set out on this expedition, Gumi suggested that if they ever needed any help from the outside, Una could bust them out. The Internet mansion was filled with all sorts of reliable equipment. With it, they could resolve this problem without anyone else’s help. 

Lily quickly dialed Una’s number and put the phone to her ear, ready to ask her young companion to come and rescue her.

Several hours away, in the Internet mansion, Una lazed around on her bed, listening to music. She wore her big blue hat, which she did at all times, and laid sprawled out across the mattress with all the junk food she could find surrounding her. Gakupo was never home, and with Gumi and Lily out of the house, she had free reign over everything. Nobody could tell her what to do.

When she heard her phone ring, Una groaned. “Who could be calling me now? I told everyone not to bother me during my music time.” Una figured the caller had no idea what time it was. Despite her complaints, she answered the call. “Hello?”

“Hey, Una!”

“Lily?!” 

“Hey, it’s been a while! How have you been? I hope you’ve been good. Staying out of trouble and all.”

“Don’t tell me you need me to pick you up from the police station again.” Una sighed. 

“Not this time! Though we are in a sticky situation and we need your help. You know that fun little garage where we keep all the special vehicles in case of emergencies?”

Una did not like what she was hearing. 

“Uh-huh. Why do you ask?” 

“Could you, maybe, get like the helicopter or something and come rescue us? We’re stranded in the middle of the Execrated Forest and there are all sorts of weird creatures here that want to hurt us.”

Una groaned again and lifted herself from the bed. She switched her music off and headed for the door. 

“I take it you need the big helicopter?”

“Yeah! We got twelve people here, maybe thirteen if I can get Iroha to come with us.”

“Iroha?”

“Long story. I’ll tell you all about it when we get out of here.” 

Keeping the phone in hand, Una left her room and made her way downstairs to access the garage. She headed to the back of the house, and walked up to the facial recognition panel on the wall. She snapped a photo of herself and waited for the system to register it. Una felt it was unnecessary, but Gakupo’s paranoia over someone stealing his expensive golf cart forced them to invest in such a device. 

When the door opened, Una stepped into the garage, where many large vehicles were kept. As one of the richest households in all of Vocaloid, they had all of the state of the art equipment. They weren’t quite as rich as Crypton or Yamaha, but they got by pretty well.

Una walked over to the large helicopter, which bore the Internet household logo across the side, and familiarized herself with it. It wasn’t the first time she needed to fly it, so she had experience with the controls. Gakupo taught her how to fly it in the case of emergencies, and the only ones who were not permitted to touch it were Gumi and Gachapoid. 

“Alright, I’ll get ready to go. I’ll be there in a few hours, more or less. Get everyone to a really high place so I can see you.” Una instructed her friend. 

“Will do! Thank you so much, Una! You’re the best!”

Finishing up the phone call, Lily put the cellphone down and held her sharp stick high. She needed to get her friends, possibly find Iroha, and get everyone to a high place so Una could come and rescue them. Not the most ideal end to a great camping trip, but an exciting one, nonetheless.

Lily departed from the room, unsure of whether or not to continue pursuing Iroha or to go back to her friends. None of them had come out of the dungeon yet, so they were probably still fighting. She needed to focus on finding Iroha.

Little did she expect Iroha to find her.

The wild cat watched Lily head down the hallway, and after sneaking up from behind, she pounced.

“Gotcha!”


	11. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final stretch. Will the heroes make it out of the forest?

Lily and Iroha wrestled to the ground, each of them trying to one-up the other. Iroha pinned Lily to the floor and lifted her catlike glove, extracting three claws from within it. 

“You will never escape from me! You and your friends are mine!” Iroha swiped her claw at Lily, but Lily shoved her off just in time to avoid getting scratched. The blonde lifted her sharp stick and jabbed it at Iroha, forcing her to scamper back. Her aerobic capabilities were impressive, but not great to fight against.

Lily stabbed her stick outward when she saw an opening, but Iroha swiped her claws at the exact same time. In the blink of an eye, the sharp end of the stick slipped clean off, rendering Lily’s weapon useless. Lily stared blankly at the hunched-over wild cat, who now had both claws visible. She chuckled nervously, then took off running. Iroha chased after her.

Relying on her survival instincts to keep her running faster than Iroha, Lily sprinted across the hallway until she finally saw an opening in the wall. Thankfully, the ruins were so old the building was beginning to fall apart. She prepared her knees and lifted herself off the ground, leaping through the open wall and landing outside in the wilderness. Iroha stayed on her trail, leaping out of the wall behind her. Lily did not have time to catch her breath, since she immediately had to start running again.

Lily really wished she had a roomba to ride on as she ran full-speed through the forest. She almost lost a sense of her surroundings, only wanting to survive and nothing more. She almost failed to comprehend the hedges nearby, which marked the path to the Fountain of Diolacov. She supposed it made sense for the builders of the now-ruins to house themselves close to the fountain. 

Changing direction to run along the hedges, the blonde escapee tried her best not to look back at the red-haired feral girl behind her. Lily knew Iroha was under a curse, and she had an idea to bring her friend back to reality, but she didn’t know if she would survive long enough to bring it into fruition. 

“I’ll… get… you…!” Iroha threatened, gaining on Lily as she moved closer to the fountain. The two of them ran through the hedges and reached the fields of flowers, but neither of them took the time to appreciate the beautiful scenery. Lily only wanted to reach the fountain, and she needed to do it before Iroha caught up to her.

When Lily finally reached the front of the Fountain of Diolacov, Iroha grabbed her from behind and wrestled her to the ground once again.

“Ah! Let me go! Get off of me!” Lily tried to shake the attacker, but Iroha scratched and swung her paws at Lily. Lily howled in pain when Iroha succeeded in scratching her across the face. Three large claw marks spread across Lily's face, and if she saw herself in a mirror, she likely would have screamed. Not harking on her pain or appearance for long, Lily pushed upwards and tried to get a grip on Iroha.

The two fought in hand to hand combat and slowly backed up closer to the fountain. When she had the prime opportunity, Lily backed away and charged. Iroha prepared to defend herself, but Lily tackled her and brought her into the fountain with her. 

A loud splash erupted as the two girls sunk beneath the water. As it did with Cocorobo, the fountain became encapsulated in a white light. Neither of the fighters saw the light, as they were beneath the water, but they both felt its effects. 

Under the surface of the fountain, Lily released Iroha, and the two of them drifted up to the surface. They emerged from beneath the waters and gasped for air, and the light faded around them. They now stood in front of one another, and stared each other in the eye for a good minute. They almost forgot where they were, as if whatever just happened caused them to momentarily blink out of reality. 

“AH! Water! I hate water!” Iroha came to realize where she was and promptly leaped out of the fountain. Lily followed behind her, watching Iroha desperately try to shake herself dry.

Then, Lily touched her face. It did not hurt. The scratch from Iroha’s claw had vanished completely! The legends said the fountain could heal almost anything, and it appeared to be true. However, what did that mean for Iroha?

“Ah, ah…” Iroha stopped shaking herself out when she saw Lily move beside her. A silence befell the two, and they both half-expected the other to attack. They did not move a muscle, waiting to see who would make the first move. After awkwardly staring at each other for a bit longer, Iroha made the first move and lunged at Lily. However, she did not attack her. She threw her arms around her and wrapped her in a hug.

“AHHHHH! I am SO SORRY!” Iroha cried into Lily’s chest, hugging her tight. “I don’t know what came over me, I couldn’t control myself! I’m so so so very sorry!” 

In any normal circumstance, an apology for everything Iroha had done would not appease Lily. Regardless, Lily knew her friend could not control her actions. She put her arms around Iroha and patted her on the back, assuring her it was alright.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.”

Iroha sniveled as she and Lily parted from the hug, but Lily continued to remind her everything was alright.

“I… just came into the forest the other day…” Iroha explained herself. “I always liked to act like a cat, and I thought it would be fun to play among nature for a little while… I never expected any of this to happen.”

“It’s okay, Iroha. I’m just glad to have you back.”

When Iroha managed to stop crying, Lily patted her on the back, and they knew what needed to be done.

“We can talk about all this later. Right now, we need to go get our friends and get out of this forest!” 

“Right.” Iroha nodded. 

Without wasting any more time, Iroha and Lily hurried back toward the ruins. They planned to enter inside, but they were stopped before they could.

“Lily! And Iroha, too! Get away from her, you fiend!” Cocorobo came charging at the two former adversaries, using a bit of her momentum to launch herself slightly off the ground. Before she could reach them, Lily grabbed her by the arm and stopped her.

“Hey, wait! She’s okay! I put her in the fountain and she returned to normal, just like you!”

Behind Cocorobo, all of Lily’s fellow campmates ran up to join them. Gumi, kokone, Tei, Maika, Yuki, Meiko, Yanhe, Merli, Xin Hua, and Rin gathered together. They all listened to Lily’s explanation as to how she returned Iroha to normal. Some of them were skeptical, but most of them were happy to have Iroha back on their side. She seemed okay, so any skepticism died fast. 

“Might I add, this Cocorobo friend of yours sure is interesting,” Tei stepped in front of the group. “She told us everything on the way out of there.”

“What about the Indefinable Shadow Beasts? Are they all gone?” asked Lily.

“They retreated. Realized there weren’t enough of them in there to fend us off. We took the chance to get out of there and find you.” 

Lily and Iroha took a few minutes to have a brief reunion with all of their friends. They were all exhausted and worn out, and all of them just wanted to get out of there.

“Okay, listen up,” Lily announced to the team. “I used Iroha’s phone to call Una. You all know Una, right? Good. She’s bringing a helicopter, and she needs us to get to a very high place so she can see us from the skies! I’m not sure how long she’s gonna take to get here, but we should probably get going as soon as possible.”

“I know where we can find some pretty tall trees!” Iroha jumped in. “They’re not too far from here, and the branches should be stable enough to hold us all." 

“Trees?” asked Gumi. “How are we gonna climb them?”

“We’ll figure something out, I’m sure.”

That wasn't promising, but it was still better than nothing. Fearing their enemies would return soon, or even the possibility they were nearby, everyone agreed to head for the trees. Trusting Iroha’s word, the campers followed the cat girl as she swiftly crawled through the forest and guided them to the special place she had mentioned. 

Not far from where the campers made their escape, the watchful eyes of Ring and an army of Indefinable Shadow Beasts gazed upon them. Ring clenched her fists in anger and lifted herself off the ground.

“Iroha is with them. We can’t let them leave.” 

High above the forest, the sound of propellers whipping back and forth filled the air, scaring off any birds that came near. A ginormous helicopter, flown by the young Otomachi Una, passed over the town of Synthania to reach the Execrated Forest. Inside, Una surveyed both the control panel and the wilderness beneath her, keeping a sharp eye out for her lost friends in need of saving. 

Far below the helicopter, the massive crew of campers continued on their trek, shielded from the sky by the massive trees above them. Iroha kept at the front of the pack, and sniffed out the area as she walked. 

“Wait. I hear something.” Iroha stopped where she stood and circled around to the others behind her.

“Yeah, come to think of it, so do I.” Lily affirmed.

Far out into the woods, a ways away from the ancient ruins and the Fountain of Diolacov, a loud rumbling sound echoed throughout the Execrated Forest and shook the very ground it stood on. 

“E-earthquake?!” asked kokone in fright.

“Not quite. Look!” 

Maika pointed behind the group, where a swarm of close to a hundred Indefinable Shadow Beasts raged through the forest after them. Leading them was the notorious Ring, who had her sights set on the escaping adventurers. 

“RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!” Lily gave her last command as leader, and nobody had the gall to question it. 

Lily, Gumi, kokone, Cocorobo, Iroha, Maika, Tei, Yuki, Meiko, Rin, Yanhe, Xin Hua, and Merli ran faster than they ever had before. They did not even care to stay close to one another, they put all their energy into sprinting as far from Ring and the monsters as possible. 

Running on all fours, Iroha scurried to the front of the pack, but didn’t take any time to sniff around. Everyone tried to follow her, assuming she knew where was going. Thankfully, with how fast they were going, the trailing shadow demons and Ring couldn’t keep up too much. In spite of this, they remained locked on their targets. 

Less than a minute later, Iroha reached exactly where she intended to. She ran up to the nearest tree and began bouncing up and down.

“Come on, come on! We’re here! Up these trees, come on!”

Extracting the claws from her fake paws, Iroha clung to the tree and swiftly began to climb. The ISBs were at a reasonable distance, but in the time it would take for most of the campers to even try to climb, they would have certainly caught up. 

“We can’t all climb, Iroha! How are we supposed to get up there?!” 

Iroha could not hear Lily, as she was already nearing the top of the extraordinarily tall tree. Lily could not stop looking over her shoulder, nervously sweating at the thought of being caught by the shadow beasts. 

“What are we going to do?!” asked a hysterical kokone.

While everyone scrambled to figure out how they would get up the tree, some even trying to climb it, Cocorobo kept a straight face. Without panicking or thinking a single negative thought, she clutched onto Lily from behind.

“Coco? What are you doing?”

“You know what I’m doing.”

“What?! No, you can’t! You couldn’t do it before!”

“Right now isn’t before, Lily.” 

Lily did not entirely trust Cocorobo to be able to launch her to the top of the tree, especially in her human form. Already, Merli was attempting to levitate the others to the top, but there were too many for her to help. Not to mention, the trees were too high for her magical capabilities. She had accidentally dropped Rin, Gumi, and Xin Hua to the ground multiple times. 

Ultimately, Lily drew a deep breath and closed her eyes. She needed to trust Coco. Even if Cocorobo couldn’t launch her, what harm was there in trying? 

“Okay. Let’s do this.” 

Giving herself a mighty push, Cocorobo prepared to take off from the ground. The monsters in the distance were coming into sight, so time was of the essence. She decided that, without proper preparation, she would just do it and see if it worked. 

On that note, Cocorobo launched herself into the air with Lily in her arms. The others looked up in awe as they saw the pinkhead carry their leader to the top of the tree at an alarmingly fast speed. The wind hit Lily hard, but she kept her eyes shut and didn’t even think about looking down or falling. She could only think about getting home and leaving the horrible forest behind.

At last, Lily felt something beneath her. She did not open her eyes just yet, but she knew she was alive. When she got a better feel for the surface she stood on, she cracked her eyes open, then opened them fully. She was at the top of the tree beside Iroha.

“Fancy meeting you here.” Iroha giggled. 

Lily could not believe her eyes. Despite being in human form, Cocorobo still retained her power from before. She could still launch herself, and bring everyone along with her!

“Cocorobo, you--”

“Thank me later. I got some other friends to help out.”

With a great leap, Cocorobo jumped to the tree trunk and slid down as if it were a firepole. Lily watched as she reached the ground and quickly became swarmed with campers wanting to hitch a ride with her. They each tried to grab onto each other, as if to create a large chain that would be brought up at once. Lily’s focus was taken away from them when Iroha took her by the hand and guided her up the tree.

“Come on, this way! We have to be high up, remember?”

Of course Lily remembered. She was the one who gave everyone that instruction in the first place. Regardless, she followed along with Iroha and the two of them emerged from the top of the trees. 

Now, this was a sight for sore eyes. The sun beaming down on the girls who stood uncovered by leaves, the beautiful sky which seemed so close, and a view of the forest beneath them. They literally felt on top of the world. All their troubles were far below, and they would soon be free from such an accursed place. 

“Look, over there!”

Lily took notice of the Internet emblem on a large vehicle in the sky. The vehicle happened to be the exact helicopter she had asked Una to bring over. Seeing this filled her with great hope and excitement.

“HEY, OVER HERE! UNA, WE’RE HERE!” Lily cried out in hopes that Una would hear her. From her position, she could not see through the windshield very well, so she couldn’t tell if Una actually saw her. 

One by one, the other campers hurried to join them above the trees. Gumi, Yanhe, kokone, Maika, Yuki, Rin, Xin Hua, Merli, Meiko, Tei, and at last, Cocorobo. Xin Hua nearly slipped out of the tree, but Merli managed to catch her with her magic. All of them took a moment to bask in the warm embrace of the evening sky until Lily pointed them in the direction of the helicopter.

“Everyone, there she is! Over there!” 

Humming to herself, Una nonchalantly drifted the chopper through the skies, not noticing her friends at first. She had no way of knowing what dangers lurked in the forest, so she saw no harm in taking her sweet time. As more and more of the campers came to the treetops, though, they finally caught her attention.

“Huh? Oh, there they are. I thought they’d find like a really big hill or something.”

Down below, the ISBs and Ring finally started to catch up with the escaping singers. As they moved closer and closer, so did Una in the helicopter. The question was, who would reach the campers first?

“Una! Can’t you fly any faster?!” Gumi shouted, but Una did not hear her over the sound of the propellers. 

Just as Ring reached the bottom of the very tree the crew stood at the top of, Una flew by in just the right distance for the thirteen to jump to. 

“Merli, can you--” Meiko began.

“You know it.” 

With a wave of her hand, Merli began levitating her friends to the large open door of the helicopter, one by one. The ones that were close enough to climb in on their own did so, but most of them just waited to be hovered inside. 

Ring inched up the tree with the shadow beasts flooding the ground beneath her. It seemed like the bottom of the forest had been consumed by a sea of blackness, with numerous red dots inside. Falling out of the tree would surely mean death, and not just from the fall. Little by little, everyone needed to get into the helicopter. 

The last person Merli helped into the chopper was Iroha, as everyone else gathered inside and either fell to the floor or took a seat at one of the cushioned benches. Una flew the helicopter close enough for Merli to climb in and bring Iroha in at the same time, but at that moment, Ring erupted from the top of the tree, scattering leaves all around and reaching for her escaped prisoners.

“STOP, DON’T GO!”

From inside, Iroha looked Ring in the eye, but everyone else fell back and tried to stay as far from the open door as possible. At the sight of Iroha, Ring stopped where she floated, and simply looked at her. “I’m sorry, Ring.” were the words that came out of Iroha’s mouth.

For a second, Ring considered trying to stop the helicopter. Instead, after a slight change of heart, she backed down. She hovered downwards, letting the helicopter drift away as Una turned it around. Iroha disappeared inside, and Ring lowered her head to face the sea of shadows beneath her.

“Goodbye, Iroha.”

The helicopter left Ring and the Execrated Forest behind, leaving the memories and horrors with it. Never again would the singers attempt the forces of nature. Especially unprepared. 

Inside, the thirteen each took a load off. They had been through far too much in just that day alone, and that was nothing compared to the adventure as a whole. 

“Guess I’ll be more careful on Twitter from now on.” Meiko said with a chuckle, but almost spitefully. 

Lily didn’t acknowledge the comment. She sat at the end of her particular bench, gazing out at the reddened sky as they flew past the puffy clouds of white and grey. She never expected the camping trip to turn out like this, and she had many regrets, but on a positive note; she had an incredible story to tell when she got back. As did everybody else.

“Hey, Lily!” Cocorobo scooted herself over to Lily, sitting beside her with glee. 

“Oh. Hey, Coco. What’s up?”

“So, what’s your place like? I can’t wait to see it! You’ll bring me there, won’t you?”

“Hey, what’s this I hear?” asked Gumi, who sat at the other end of the bench with kokone and Tei. 

“Oh, right. I promised Cocorobo I’d help her get back on her feet when we got back home.” Lily explained.

“Maybe I can stay with you!” Cocorobo eagerly suggested. “I am indebted to you, after all. You saved my life!”

“Ah, Coco, I told you--”

“No, I insist! Pleeeeease, can I stay with you? Pleeeeease?”

Lily looked over to Gumi, who returned a look that said “It’s your call.” Lily giggled and looked back to Cocorobo.

“Alright. You’re always welcome in my home.” 

“YAY! Thank you so so so so very much!” 

Lily didn’t oppose staying with Cocorobo for a while longer. The two of them had greatly bonded over their short time spent together. She was a woman of her word, and did not intend to overlook her promise to help Coco out. To see the great fountain, to help someone in need, and to spend time with the friends she loved so dearly made the entire trip worth it. 

With their memories in the past, and much to look forward to in the days to come, the thirteen singers relaxed and made themselves comfortable. The helicopter flew off into the sunset, marking the end of not only an adventurous day, but an adventurous and unforgettable camping trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed that fun little story! I haven't written fanfiction in a while, especially not a silly goofy one like this. I initially came up with the concept on Twitter last year, and I always planned to make some kind of full version of it. Writing this was super enjoyable for me, and I would like to get in a habit of writing more fanfiction in the future. Thank you so much for reading!!!


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